Execution support system and execution support method

ABSTRACT

An execution support system  1  including a car navigation system terminal  100  that communicates with TVs ( 291  and  292 ) or air conditioners ( 293  and  294 ) via an Internet ( 900 ), where the car navigation system terminal ( 100 ) includes: a prediction function unit ( 110 ) that predicts a destination to which it is headed and outputs prediction result data indicating a result of the prediction; and a script function unit ( 120 ) that specifies a control operation for the respective TVs ( 291  and  292 ) and the air conditioners ( 293  and  294 ) in accordance with the prediction result data, and causes the respective TVs ( 291  and  292 ) and the air conditioners ( 293  and  294 ) to execute the specified control operation.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an execution support system and anexecution support method for supporting devices such as home electricappliances and terminals that are set in a hospital or in a store,execute a control operation.

BACKGROUND ART

An execution support system for causing a device located in adestination, to execute a predetermined control using a mobile terminalsuch as a mobile phone is suggested as a conventional art (see referenceto, e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-345051(hereinafter to be referred to as “patent literature 1”) and No.2002-78047 (hereinafter to be referred to as “patent literature 2”).

The execution support system according to the patent literature 1 (i.e.a communication apparatus intended for home electric appliance) includesa cell phone, a home terminal set at home for communication with thecell phone, and plural home electric appliances connected to the hometerminal, and controls each of the home electric appliances according toinstructions from the cell phone.

Thus, for example, it is possible for the user carrying a cell phone, tooperate the cell phone from where he/she is in order to turn an airconditioner on so that the room is warmed up before he/she gets home.

The execution support system according to the patent literature 2includes a cell phone, a gateway set at home and plural electricappliances connected to the gateway and a server that communicates withthe respective cell phone and gateway. The server recognizes that apre-set time has come based on a self-installed timer, and causes, viathe gateway, each of the electric appliances to perform a controloperation based on the information transmitted from the communicationapparatus.

Thus it is possible, for example, to previously set an alarm so that anair conditioner being one of the electric appliances is turned on at20:00 every night before the user gets home. The user thus does not needto operate the air conditioner every time.

The execution support system according to the patent literature 1,however, has a problem that it requires the user to take the trouble tooperate the cell phone each time he/she desires to turn the airconditioner on.

As for the execution support system according to the patent literature2, since an electric appliance is operated at a pre-set time, it ispossible to eliminate the user's operation as is required under theexecution support system according to the patent literature 1. Theproblem, however, is that in the case where the time at which the usercomes home changes during the week, the user needs to operate the cellphone to change the pre-set time.

The present invention is conceived in view of the above problem, and anobject of the present invention is to provide an execution supportsystem and a method thereof for supporting a device execute a controloperation according to the user's behavior while eliminating cumbersomeoperations imposed on the user.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

In order to achieve the above object, the execution support systemaccording to the present invention is an execution support system forsupporting a predetermined device execute a control operation andincludes: a mobile terminal that predicts a destination to which theterminal is headed, and outputs prediction result data indicating aresult of the prediction; a control operation specification unitoperable to specify a control operation of the device, the controloperation being specified according to the outputted prediction resultdata; and an execution unit operable to cause the device to execute thecontrol operation specified by the control operation specification unit.The mobile terminal is a terminal that can detect a location of, forinstance, a terminal, a cell phone and a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), which are used in a car navigation system.

Thus, the mobile terminal predicts a destination to which it is headed,and the device executes its control function according to a result ofthe prediction. Therefore, in the case where the user carries his/hermobile terminal as he/she moves, it is possible to eliminate thetroublesome operation imposed on the user, and to support the deviceexecute a control operation according to the user's behavior.

The control operation specification unit is operable to holdregistration information in which a facility and a control operationcorresponding to the facility are registered, and to specify a controloperation that corresponds to a destination facility indicated in theprediction result data.

Thus, it is possible to support the device execute a control operationbased on the registration information.

All or part of facilities in the registration information may beregistered in association with a category to which each facility belong,and the control operation specification unit may be operable to judgewhether or not the destination facility indicated in the predictionresult data belongs to a predetermined category, and to specify acontrol operation corresponding to the predetermined category in thecontrol operations registered in the registration information, in thecase where it is judged that the destination facility belongs to thepredetermined category.

Thus, in the case where the mobile terminal predicts a specific storesuch as “Eco-eco Mart” and “Niko-niko Mart” as its own destination, itis judged that the specific store belongs to a category “supermarket”and a control operation that falls into the category is specified.Therefore, it is possible to support the device execute a controloperation corresponding to a category to which the destination belongs.

A period of time related to each control may be registered in theregistration information, and the control operation specification unitis further operable to specify a control operation associated with aperiod of time including a time indicated in the prediction result data.

Thus, it is possible to support the device execute a control operationin accordance with the destination of the mobile terminal and the periodof time which are related to the operation.

Identification information for identifying a device that executes acontrol operation may be registered in the registration information inassociation with each control, the control operation specification unitmay be operable to specify, among the control operations registered intothe registration information, a control operation indicated in theprediction result data and identification information of a device thatexecutes the control operation, and the execution unit may be operableto cause the device indicated in the identification informationspecified by the control operation specification unit.

Thus, even in the case where plural devices are connected to the system,the device to which control should be performed is specified by theidentification information included in the registration information. Itis therefore possible to support the specified device execute thecontrol operation.

User identification information for identifying each user may beregistered in the registration information in association with eachcontrol, the mobile terminal may output user identification of a useroperating the terminal, and the control operation specification unit maybe operable to specify, among the control operations registered in theregistration information, a control operation that is further indicatedin the user identification information outputted by the mobile terminal.

Thus, it is possible to support the device execute a control operationin accordance with the destination of the mobile terminal and the user.

Note that the present invention can be realized as a mobile terminal ora server included in the execution support system as described above, oreven as an execution support method used in such execution supportsystem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following description thereof taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings that illustrate a specificembodiment of the invention. In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram showing a structure of an executionsupport system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a function block diagram showing a functional structure of acar navigation system terminal according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a function block diagram showing a functional structure of ahome gateway according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an information display diagram showing details included in mapinformation according to the first embodiment;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are information display diagrams, each of which showsdetails included in history information according to the firstembodiment;

FIG. 6 is an information display diagram showing an example of detailsincluded in transition-state information;

FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C are information display diagrams, each of whichshows details included in a condition table according to the firstembodiment;

FIG. 8 is an operational flowchart showing a sequence of operationsperformed by a prediction function unit of the car navigation accordingto the first embodiment;

FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C are information display diagrams, each of whichshows information included in a condition table with tree structureaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an operational flowchart showing a sequence of operationsperformed by a prediction function unit of the car navigation systemterminal according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a script format according tothe first embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a format display diagram showing details included in controlinstruction data according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 13 is an information display diagram showing details included inparameter data according to the first embodiment;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are script display diagrams respectively showing anexample of a script according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 15 is an information display diagram showing details included inuser information according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 16 is an information display diagram showing details included inlocal address information according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram showing an operation performed in theexecution support system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a screen display diagram showing a TV screen on which ascript is executed, according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a structural diagram showing a structure of an executionsupport system according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 20 is a function block diagram showing functional structures of aserver and a car navigation system terminal according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 21 is an information display diagram showing details included inregistration information according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 22 is a screen display diagram showing an example of a screen ofthe terminal that is set in a hospital, according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 23 is an information display diagram showing details included inuser information according to the second embodiment;

FIGS. 24(a) through 24(g) are screen display diagrams for describingscreens to be displayed by a display unit according to the secondembodiment;

FIGS. 25(a) through 25(g) are screen display diagrams for describingother screens to be displayed by the display unit according to thesecond embodiment;

FIG. 26 is a format display diagram showing an example of a scriptformat according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 27 is a script display diagram showing an example of a scriptaccording to the second embodiment;

FIG. 28 is a sequence diagram showing an operation performed in theexecution support system according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 29 is a structural diagram showing a structure of an executionsupport system according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 30 is a function block diagram showing functional structures of acar navigation system terminal, server and home terminal according tothe third embodiment;

FIG. 31 is an information display diagram showing details included inuser group information according to the third embodiment;

FIGS. 32(a), 32(b) and 32(c) are screen display diagrams respectivelyshowing an example of a screen that a registration unit allows a displayunit of the home terminal to display, according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 33 is an information display diagram showing details included inregistration information according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 34 is an operational flowchart showing an operation performed by aregistration function unit of a server according to the thirdembodiment;

FIG. 35 is an information display diagram showing details included incategory information according to the third embodiment;

FIGS. 36A and 36B are screen display diagrams respectively showing anexample of a screen to be displayed by a message display unit of a carnavigation system terminal according to the third embodiment, while FIG.36C is a screen display diagram showing a screen displayed by a messagedisplay unit of a cell phone according to the third embodiment; and

FIG. 37 is an operational flowchart showing an operation performed by asearch extraction function unit of a server according to the thirdembodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First Embodiment

The following describes the execution support system according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention with reference to thediagrams.

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram showing a structure of the executionsupport system according to the present embodiment.

The execution support system 1 of the present embodiment supportsdevices execute a control operation in accordance with the user'sbehavior while eliminating the cumbersome operations imposed on theuser. Such execution support system 1 includes a car navigation systemterminal 100 placed in a car (hereafter to be called “car-navi”), a homegateway 200 set at home, TVs 291 and 292 as well as air conditioners 293and 294 which are connected to the home gateway 200.

According to such execution support system 1 of the present embodiment,the car-navi 100 predicts a destination to which it is headed for, andthe respective TVs 291 and 292 as well as the air conditioners 293 and294 are allowed to execute control according to a result of theprediction. For example, when the user using the car-navi 100 is on theway home where the air conditioners 293 and 294 are placed, the car-navi100 predicts that the car-navi is heading for home, turns on the airconditioner 293 or allows the TV 291 to display a message that informsthat the user is on the way to get home.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the functional structure ofthe car-navi 100.

The car-navi 100 communicates with the home gateway via an Internet 900,and includes: a prediction function unit 110 that predicts a destinationwhere the car-navi 100 is heading for; and a script function unit 120that creates a script instructing a predetermined device to execute apredetermined operation based on the prediction result, and transmitsthe created script.

The prediction function unit 110 of the car-navi 100 includes thefollowing: a location detection unit 101 that detects a present positionof the car-navi 100 using, for instance, a Global Positioning System(GPS); a map information holding unit 103 that previously holds mapinformation 103 a indicating a map used for navigation; a node judgmentunit 102 that judges whether or not the present position detected by thelocation detection unit 101 corresponds to a node that will be mentionedlater; a history storage unit 104 having an area for storing, as historyinformation 104 a, the node that corresponds to the present position; athreshold calculation unit 105 that determines a threshold of occurrencefrequency for creating transition-state information that will bementioned later; a transition-state information creation unit 106 whichcreates transition-state information related to a transition betweennodes, each having an occurrence frequency equal to or greater than thethreshold, and which includes frequency as well as date and time of themovement between the nodes; a condition determination unit 107 thatdetermines a predetermined condition based on the transition-stateinformation and the history information 104 a; and a prediction unit 108that predicts a node to be the next destination based on thetransition-state information using the condition determined by thecondition determination unit 107.

The script function unit 120 of the car-navi 100 includes: a formatstoring unit 122 having an area for storing a script format 122 a; aformat registration unit 121 that registers the script format 122 a intothe format storing unit 122; a control parameter storing unit 124 havingan area for storing control instruction data 124 a and parameter data124 b; a parameter registration unit 123 that registers the controlinstruction data 124 a and the parameter data 124 b into the controlparameter storing unit 124; a script creation unit 125 that creates ascript according to the result of the prediction performed by theprediction unit 108, using the script format 122 a, the controlinstruction data 124 and the parameter data 124 b; and a navigationsending/receiving unit 126 that sends/receives signals via the Internet900.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a functional structure ofthe home gateway 200.

The home gateway 200 includes: a gateway sending/receiving unit 201 thatsends/receives signals via the Internet 900; a user information holdingunit 205 that previously holds user information 205 a; an authenticationunit 202 that obtains a script from the car-navi 100 via the gatewaysending/receiving unit 201, and authenticates the user who hastransmitted the script, with reference to the user information 205 a; anaddress information holding unit 206 that previously holds local addressinformation 206 a; a script analysis unit 203 that obtains a script fromthe car-navi 100 via the gateway sending/receiving unit 201 and theauthentication unit 202, and specifies, using the local addressinformation 206 a, a local address of the device for which the script isobtained; and a script sending unit 204 that sends the script to thedevice whose local address is specified.

Each of the TVs 291 and 292, and the air conditioners 293 and 294executes an operation according to the script sent from the home gateway200.

The execution support system 1 structured as above will be described indetail starting firstly from the prediction function unit 110 of thecar-navi 100.

The prediction function unit 110 executes the prediction methoddisclosed in the Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-297304.

FIG. 4 is an information display diagram showing the details included inthe map information 103 a held by the map information holding unit 103.

A node here indicates a predetermined location and its range, forexample, a predetermined cross-point, landmark or area. Besides specificlocations such as “Cross-point ABC” and “DEF Amusement Park”, a“workplace” unique to the user and “Nancy's house” can be represented asnodes. A node number, that is, an identification number for identifyinga node is assigned to each node.

As shown in FIG. 4, a node number, a type or a name of a nodecorresponding to the node number, a position indicated by longitude andlatitude of a representative point of the node are registered into themap information 103 a.

As for the node numbers, for example, “CXX” is assigned forcross-points, “LXX” for landmarks, and “AXX” for areas.

According to the map information 103 a shown in FIG. 4, the position ofeach node is registered based only on longitude and latitude of therepresentative point of each node, however, information indicating arange (a radius with the representative point serving as a center) inaccordance with the respective nodes such as cross-point, landmark, andarea is also registered. For example, in the case where a node is across-point or a landmark, range information indicating a range definedby a radius of 10 meters with the representative point serving as acenter may be registered into the map information 103 a. In the casewhere a node is an area, range information indicating a range defined bya radius of 1 kilometer with the representative point serving as acenter may be registered into the map information 103 a. The range maybe differently defined depending on each node. Instead of longitude andlatitude, an address may be registered into the map information 103 a,as a location of the node.

Note that a node number as well as a type or a name of node isregistered into map information 103 a, however, only a node number or aname may be registered provided that each node is identifiable.

The information (e.g. node number) that identifies a node such as across-point, a landmark, and an area is stored as the historyinformation 104 a into the history storage unit 104.

Note that a node may be additionally registered into or deleted from themap information 103 a, according to the state in which the user driveshis/her car.

For example, if the user has passed a cross-point in two or moredirections while driving his/her car equipped with the car-navi 100, thecross-point is registered, as a node, into the map information 103 a.When the user comes to pass the cross-point registered as a node only inone direction, during a predetermined time in the past, the node isdeleted from the map information 103 a. The map information 103 a is notnecessarily required for such node setting, and a node can be set byusing only a user's history of driving.

The node judgment unit 102 searches, in the map information 103 a, forthe present position detected by the position detection unit 101. In thecase where the present position is registered as a node into the mapinformation 103 a, the node judgment unit 102 registers a node number ofthe node and the time when the user passed the node, as the historyinformation 104 a, into the history storage unit 104.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are an information display diagrams showing the detailsincluded in the history information 104 a in the history storage unit104.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the node judgment unit 102 registers, in achronological sequence, a node number and a passing time correspondingto the node number, as the history information 104 a, into the historystorage unit 104. The node judgment unit 102 registers the historyinformation 104 a into the history storage unit 104 using apredetermined segment.

FIG. 5A shows two segments of history information 104 a which arerespectively registered in a segment starting from the place where theuser started the engine (i.e. starting point) to the place where theuser stopped the engine (i.e. destination). FIG. 5B shows the historyinformation 104 a registered in a segment starting from the startingpoint until the user gets back to the same point.

The history information 104 a shown in FIG. 5A indicates that the carstarted a node with the node number L6 at 8:05 am on the 31 of July,passed a node with the node number C8 at 8:06 on the same day, and thenpassed a node with the node number C12 on the same day.

The history information 104 a shown in FIG. 5B indicates that a carstarted a node with the node number L6 at 8:05 am on the 31 of July,passed a node with the node number C8 at 8:06 on the same day, andreturned back to the node with the node number L6 at 21:20 on the sameday.

Note that the node judgment unit 102 may store the history information104 a in a segment labeled “the same day”, or without segment.

The node judgment unit 102 registers each passing time using units suchas minute, hour, day and month into the history storage unit 104,however, units such as year, second, date may be registered, or anycombination of such units may be registered. In the case where thehistory information 104 a is registered in a segment using a unit ofdrive starting from the start of the engine until the engine stops, thenode judgment unit 102 may register, into the history storage unit 104,the time when the engine is started and the time when the engine isstopped together with the node numbers. As for the node at which theuser passed, only the node number may be registered. The node judgmentunit 102 may register, into the history storage unit 104, not only theinformation related to such time but also information related toweather, a driver and fellow passengers that is included in the historyinformation 104 a.

The threshold calculation unit 105 calculates a threshold of occurrencefrequency for classifying the nodes that compose the transition-stateinformation, with reference to the history information 104 a stored inthe history storage unit 104. A variation of methods to calculate athreshold is provided, and the calculation may be performed based on anamount of data stored in the history storage unit 104 or on adistribution of the occurrence frequencies of all the nodes. Thecalculation may be performed by obtaining an average occurrencefrequency of all the nodes and then multiplying a constant with theaverage. Any of the methods can be employed.

After a threshold is calculated by the threshold calculation unit 105,the transition-state information creation unit 106 createstransition-state information based on the respective nodes whoseoccurrence frequency is equal to or greater than the threshold, usingthe history information 104 a in the history storage unit 104.

FIG. 6 is an information display diagram showing an example of thedetails included in the transition-state information.

As shown in FIG. 6, the transition-state information has a treestructure representing a state of transition where the node numbers L6,L128, A253 and L85, each indicating a node (i.e. starting point) such asa landmark and an area from which the user started driving, are locatedat the top directly below a route and are set as base points. Suchtransition-state information is structured so that the node numbersL128, L2 and A30, each indicating a node (i.e. destination) such as alandmark and an area at which the user stopped driving, are located inthe lowest layers in each branch.

The transition-state information further includes state information(data indicated in a square in FIG. 6) indicating, for each of the nodenumbers, a state in which the user left, passed or arrived at the node.By using such state information, it is possible to search in thetransition-state information with tree structure, using a condition suchas “the nodes which the user passed in the period of time from 9:00 amuntil noon during the week” as a search key.

Note that the state information in the transition-state informationshown in FIG. 6 includes date and time indicated by the historyinformation 104 a shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. However, information relatedto driver and passengers or weather information concerning weather,temperature and probability of precipitation may be included in thestate information. Such state information is registered incorrespondence with each of the node numbers.

The condition determination unit 107 determines, with reference tocondition tables pre-held thereby, a suitable condition to be used forthe prediction performed by the prediction unit 108.

FIG. 7A is an information display diagram showing the details includedin a holiday condition table that is one of the condition tables.

The holiday condition table includes information indicating whenweekdays and holidays are.

That is to say, the condition determination unit 107 judges whethertoday is a weekday or a holiday, with reference to such holidaycondition table. For example, in the case where today is judged to be aholiday, the condition determination unit 107 specifies holiday as acandidate for conditions.

FIG. 7B is an information display diagram showing the details includedin a time condition table that is one of the condition tables.

The time condition table includes information respectively defining aperiod of time for morning, afternoon and night.

In other words, the condition determination unit 107 judges whether thepresent time is morning, afternoon or night, with reference to such timecondition table. In the case where the present time is judged to be anight time, the condition determination unit 107 specifies night as acandidate for conditions.

FIG. 7C is an information display diagram showing the details includedin a season condition table that is one of the condition tables.

The season condition table includes information respectively defining aseasonal period for spring, summer, autumn and winter.

That is to say that the condition determination unit 107 judges whethertoday is in spring, summer, autumn, or winter, with reference to suchseason condition table. In the case where today is judged to be inspring, the condition determination unit 107 specifies spring as acandidate for conditions.

FIG. 8 is an operational flowchart showing a sequence of operationsperformed by the condition determination unit 107.

The condition determination unit 107 firstly obtains the informationrelated to a state of present up to recent past, with reference to thehistory information 104 a in the history storage unit 104. Assume herethat a present position is a node with the node number C9, a startingpoint is a node with the node number L6, and a present time is at 14:00on 3 of June.

The condition determination unit 107 can extract the condition such as“weekday”, “afternoon” and “summer” with reference to the holidaycondition table, the time condition table and the season conditiontable, and select one condition, e.g., “weekday, node number C9” out ofthese conditions (Step S100).

The condition determination unit 107 searches for the node that meetssuch condition in the transition-state information (Step S102).According to the transition-state information shown in FIG. 6, a node Aof the node number C9 meets the condition. The condition: determinationunit 107 therefore recognizes that the node A is a node that fulfillsthe search condition.

Next, the condition determination unit 107 selects one node (located inthe lowest layer) that may transit in the future, using the node A withthe node number C9 as a base point (Step S104), calculates a probabilityof transition to the selected node (Step S106), and stores thecalculated value (Step S108).

The following methods are provided as a method to calculate a transitionprobability. The transition probability P(Ln|C9) can be obtained by thefollowing equation: P(Ln|C9)=Freq (Ln|Cond)/Freq (C9|Cond), where “Cond”denotes a condition, “Freq (C9|Cond)” denotes an occurrence frequencythat the base point (node A with the node number C9) fulfills thecondition “Cond” and “Freq (Ln|Cond)” denotes a frequency that the node(Ln) that may transit fulfills the condition “Cond”.

After the transition probability is thus calculated for one node, thecondition determination unit 107 judges whether or not any other nodesmay transit under the condition previously used (Step S110). In the caseof detecting such node (Y in Step S110), the condition determinationunit 107 calculates a transition probability for the node, and storesthe calculated value.

In the case of not detecting such node (N in Step S110), the conditiondetermination unit 107 calculates entropy of the transition probabilityunder the previous condition based on the stored transition probability(Step S112), and stores the calculated value together with the condition(Step S114).

After thus storing the entropy, the condition determination unit 107then searches for other presently-selected conditions (e.g., “weekday,node number C9, afternoon” or “weekday, transition from the node withthe node number L6 to the node with the node number C9, summer) (StepS116). In the case where such condition is searched out (Y in StepS116), the condition determination unit 107 repeats the operationstarting from Step S100.

In the case where such condition is not searched out (N in Step S116),the condition determination unit 107 selects a condition which isalready stored and under which a value of entropy becomes the smallest,and determines it as the best condition (Step S118).

Note that the respective condition tables held by the conditiondetermination unit 107 may have a tree structure.

FIGS. 9A to 9C respectively shows an example of the condition tablehaving a tree structure. FIG. 9A shows a time condition table, FIG. 9Bshows a date condition table and FIG. 9C shows a weather conditiontable, each being one of the condition tables with tree structure.

The time condition table shown in FIG. 9A indicates the following: theconditions “from 6:00 to 8:00” “from 8:00 to 10:00” and “from 10:00 to12:00” belong to the condition “morning”; the conditions “from 12:00 to14:00”, “from 14:00 to 16:00” and “from 16:00 to 18:00” belong to thecondition “afternoon”; and the conditions “from 18:00 to 19:59”, “from20:00 to 21:59” and “from 22:00 to 24:00” belong to the condition“night”.

The date condition table shown in FIG. 9B indicates that the conditions“from Monday to Thursday” and “Friday” respectively belongs to thecondition “weekday” while the conditions “Saturday” and “Sunday” belongto the condition “holiday”.

The weather condition table shown in FIG. 9C indicates that “sunny”,“cloudy” and “rainy” are used as conditions.

For example, assuming that the present state is “Monday”, “14:00” and“sunny”, the condition determination unit 107 determines that thepresent state “Monday” belongs to the condition “weekday”, withreference to the date condition table, and further determines that thepresent state “14:00” belongs to the condition “afternoon”, withreference to the time condition table.

The condition determination unit 107 then searches for transition-stateinformation using the conditions “weekday”, “afternoon” and “sunny”, anddetermines the condition under which the entropy of the transitionprobability becomes the smallest. For example, assuming that thecondition is “afternoon”, the condition determination unit 107 searchesfor transition-state information using the conditions “weekday”, “sunny”and the condition located in the layer lower than the condition“afternoon”, and determines the condition under which the entropy of thetransition probability becomes the smallest. Now, assume that thecondition “afternoon” turns out to be such condition, the conditiondetermination unit 107 compares an entropy of the condition “afternoon”and entropies of the conditions “afternoon” and “working day”. In thecase where the former is smaller, the condition determination unit 107determines that the condition “afternoon” is the best condition. In thecase where the latter is smaller, the condition determination unit 107determines the best condition by repeating the same operation asdescribed above using the conditions “sunny” and “from 14:00 to 15:00”and the condition “from Monday to Thursday” that is located in the layerlower than the condition “weekday”.

The condition tables shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 may be or may not bedifferent depending on the user. That is to say that the holidaycondition table may differ according to the holidays of each user, whilethe weather condition table does not differ depending on the user. Thecondition determination unit 107 may therefore hold a condition tablefor each user and a general condition table that offers the samecontents to any user. For example, the condition determination unit 107provides each user with a holiday condition table by switching betweenthe tables, and provides all the users with a general weather conditiontable. The condition determination unit 107 may include a unit thatobtains, when necessary, a condition table depending on the user.

After the condition determination unit 107 determines the appropriateconditions, the prediction unit 108 predicts a node to which the user isgoing to transit (i.e. destination), with reference to the determinedconditions and the transition-state information.

As a method to predict a destination node, the following methods areprovided: to determine the node with the highest prediction probability(transition probability) to be a destination node; to previously give arange to a node according to the prediction probability so as to outputa value based on random numbers, and determine the node having the rangeto which the value belongs to be a destination node; and to determine,as destination nodes, all the nodes having a probability value that isequal to or greater than a predetermined value. Note that after theprediction of the destination node, it is naturally possible to predicta path to the predicted node by referring to the transition-stateinformation.

The prediction unit 108 further calculates, as a time required to reachthe destination, an average value of each of the times required so farfor driving between the present node and the respective nodes predictedas described above, and also specifies a scheduled time for arriving atthe destination, by adding the required time to the present time.

The prediction unit 108 outputs prediction result data indicating a nodenumber of the destination node and the required time and the scheduledarrival time.

A sequence of operations performed by the prediction function unit 110in such car-navi 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 10.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the sequence of operations performed bythe prediction function unit 110.

The position detection unit 101 detects a present position of thecar-navi 100 (Step S130).

The node judgment unit 120 judges whether or not the present position isregistered as a node, with reference to the map information 103 a (StepS132).

In the case of judging that the present position is registered as anode, the node judgment unit 102 registers, as the history information104 a, a node number indicating the node as well as time and date intothe history storage unit 104 (Step S134).

The threshold calculation unit 105 calculates a threshold of occurrencefrequency with reference to the history information 104 a (Step S136).

The transition-state information creation unit 106 createstransition-state information based on the node whose occurrencefrequency equals to or greater than the threshold (Step S138).

The condition determination unit 107 determines appropriate conditionsbased on the transition-state information as described with reference toFIG. 8 (Step S140).

The prediction unit 108 predicts a destination node to be a destinationbased on the conditions determined in Step S140 (Step S142), and thenfurther specifies a required time and a scheduled arrival time so as tooutput the prediction result data (Step S144).

By performing such operation, the prediction function unit 110 of thecar-navi 100 predicts the destination where the car-navi 100 is headingfor.

Next, the following describes a script function unit 120 of the car-navi100.

FIG. 11 is a format display diagram showing an example of the scriptformat 122 a stored in the format storing unit 122.

As shown in FIG. 11, the script format 122 a is formed so that a user ID(<User ID>), a device to be controlled (<Target>), a location of thedevice (<Place>), control operation (<Control>) and settings requiredfor executing the control operation (<Content>) are inputted.

The format storing unit 122 may store not only one type but plural typesof such script format 122 a. The script format 122 a is, for example,registered from the format registration unit 121 into the format storingunit 122 based on, for instance, the operation carried out by the userusing the car-navi 100.

Note that, the format registration unit 121 may obtain the script format122 a from the server, for instance, through the communication via theInternet with the server that previously holds plural types of scriptformats, and register it into the format storing unit 122. The formatregistration unit may read out the script format 122 a from the memorycard being a card-type data storage medium, and register the read-outscript format 122 a into the format storing unit 122. Thus, in the casewhere the format registration unit 121 registers the script format 122 ainto the format storing unit 122 using the Internet 900 or the memorycard, the user's tasks required for the registration can be reduced.

FIG. 12 is an information display diagram showing the details includedin the control instruction data 124 a in the control parameter storingunit 124.

As shown in FIG. 12, the control instruction data 124 a has thefollowing columns: a destination A1; an address A2; a time informationA3; a control operation A4; and a control number A5. A name ofdestination such as user's home and his/her friend's house and its nodenumber are registered into the destination column A1, and an addresscorresponding to each destination is registered into the address columnA2, while an operation of each control to be performed on the deviceslocated in the destination is registered into the control operationcolumn A4. A period of time during which each control is performed isregistered into the time information column A3, and a control numberassigned for each control is registered into the control number columnA5.

For example, in the case where the destination is a home place of theuser operating the car-navi 100, a global address “202.203.XYZ.2”assigned to the home gateway 200 of the home place is registered in thecolumn A2, and the control operation such as “Notify the time the usergets home”, “Notify that the user wants someone to come to get him/her”and “Turn on the air conditioner in the library” to be performed on thedevices located in the home place are registered in the controloperation column A4. A control number “0001” is assigned to the controloperation “Notify the time when the user gets home”, while the timeinformation “17:00-22:00” is associated with the control operation.

FIG. 13 is an information display diagram showing the details includedin the parameter data 124 b in the control parameter storing unit 124.

As shown in FIG. 13, the parameter data 124 b has the following columns:a control number B1; and a parameter B2. A control number indicated inthe control instruction data 124 a is registered into the control numbercolumn B1, while a parameter necessary for executing the controloperation corresponding to the control number is registered into theparameter column B2.

For example, the following parameters are registered in the parameterdata 124 b, as the parameters necessary for executing the controloperation “Notify the time when the user gets home” with the controlnumber “0001”: “0001” indicating a user ID (<UserID>); “TV” indicating adevice to be controlled (<Target>); “LivingRoom” indicating a locationof the device (<Place>); “Infom” indicating a control operation(<Control>); and “Arrival (time)” indicating a setting required forexecuting the control operation. Here, “Infom” indicates the controloperation “Notify” and “Arrivial (time)” indicates a scheduled arrivaltime (i.e. a time to get home).

The following parameters are registered as the parameters necessary forexecuting the control operation “Turn on the air conditioner in thelibrary” indicated by the control number “0003”: “001” indicating a userID (<UserID>); “Library” indicating a location of the device (<Place>);“onSwitch” indicating a control operation (<Control>); and “24° C.”indicating a setting required for executing the control operation(<Content>). Here, “onSwitch” indicates the control operation “Turn onthe device” and “24° C.” indicates the setting of “set the roomtemperature to be 24° C.”.

Such control instruction data 124 a and the parameter data 124 b areregistered from the parameter registration unit 123 into the controlparameter storing unit 124, for example, through the user's operations.

Having obtained the prediction result data from the prediction unit 108of the prediction function unit 110, the script creation unit 125searches for the control number corresponding to the destinationindicated in the prediction result data, in the control instruction data124 a in the control parameter storing unit 124. The script creationunit 125 searches for the control number corresponding to the time whenthe prediction result data is obtained.

For example, in the case of obtaining the prediction result dataindicating the destination “home, node number L123” at 20:00, the scriptcreation unit 125 searches for the destination “home, node number L123”in the control instruction data 124 a, and then searches for the controlnumber (i.e. control operation) associated lo with the time thatincludes “20:00” among the control numbers corresponded to the “home,node number L123”. As a result, the script creation unit 125 specifiesthe control numbers “0001”, “0003” and “0004”. After having obtained theprediction result data indicating the destination “home, node numberL123” at 23:00, is the script creation unit 125 searches for thedestination “home, node number L123” in the control instruction data 124a, and further searches for the control number associated with the timethat includes “23:00” in the control numbers corresponded to “home, nodenumber L123”. As a result, the script creation unit 125 specifies thecontrol numbers “0002”, “0003” and “0004”.

The script creation unit 125 refers to the parameter data 124 b in thecontrol parameter storing unit 124, extracts the parameter thatcorresponds to the specified control number, e.g., “001”, and inputs theextracted parameter into the script format 122 a in the format storingunit 122 so as to create a script to be transmitted to the destination.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are display diagrams respectively showing an exampleof the script created by the script creation unit 125. FIG. 14A showsthe script that corresponds to the control number “0001” while FIG. 14Bshows the script that corresponds to the control number “0003”.

The script shown in FIG. 14A is created so as to allow the TV 292 set inthe living room to execute the operation “Notify that the user havingthe user ID “001” gets home at 21:55”. The script creation unit 125converts the “Arrival (time)” that is a parameter extracted from theparameter data 124 b into “Arrival (21:55)” based on the scheduledarrival time “21:55” indicated in the prediction result data from theprediction unit 108, and inputs the converted parameter into the scriptformat 122 a.

The script shown in FIG. 14B is created so as to allow the airconditioner 293 in the living room to execute the operation “Turn theair conditioner on so that the room temperature is set to 24° C.”.

The navigation sending/receiving unit 126 obtains an address of thedestination predicted by the prediction unit 108 from the controlinstruction data 124 a via the script creation unit 125, and transmitsthe script thus created to the address. For example, in the case wherethe destination is user's home, the navigation sending/receiving unit126 transmits a script to the home gateway 200 at home.

The following describes the operation of the home gateway 200.

Having obtained the script via the gateway sending/receiving unit 201,the authentication unit 202 of the home gateway 200 refers to the userinformation 205 a in the user information holding unit 205, andauthenticates the user who has transmitted the script.

FIG. 15 is an information display diagram showing the details includedin the user information 205 a.

As shown in FIG. 15, the user information 205 a has the followingcolumns: a user ID C1 and a user name C2. In the user ID column C1, auser ID of a valid user is registered while in the user name column C2,a user name such as a user's nickname or a name that corresponds to theuser ID is registered.

For example, the user information 205 a shown in FIG. 15 indicates thatthe users respectively having the user IDs “001”, “002” and “003” arevalid users and that a user name of the user having the user ID “001” is“Father” and a user name of the user having the user ID “002” is“Mother”.

The authentication unit 202 judges whether or not the user ID includedin the obtained script is registered in the user information 205 a. Inthe case where the user ID is registered in the user information 205 a,the authentication unit 202 judges that the script is sent from a validuser, and transmits the script to the script analysis unit 203. In thecase where the user ID is not registered in the user information 205 a,the authentication unit 202 judges that the script is sent from aninvalid user, and destroys the script. Note that the authenticationmethod applied by the authentication unit 202 is not limited to themethod based on a user ID as described above. Other method such that isbased on a password of the user using the car-navi 100 or a terminal IDof the car-navi 100 may be applied instead. Encryption using, forexample, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) may be performed on the user ID andthe password to be transmitted from the car-navi 100 to the home gateway200.

Having obtained the script from the authentication unit 202, the scriptanalysis unit 203 specifies a local address of the device targetedindicated in the script, by referring to the local address information206 a in the address information holding unit 206.

FIG. 16 is an information display diagram showing the details includedin the local address information 206 a.

As shown in FIG. 16, the local address information 206 a has thefollowing columns: a target device D1; an installation site D2; and alocal address D3. All the types of devices connected to the home gateway200 are registered into the target device column D1, and a locationwhere each of the devices is set is registered into the installationsite column D2, while a local address of each of the devices isregistered into the local address column D3.

For example, the devices such as “TV” and “air conditioner” areregistered into the target device column D1. In the installation sitecolumn D2, locations “living room” and “library” are registered inassociation with the device “TV” and the locations “library” and “study”are registered in association with the device “air conditioner”. Thelocal address “192.168.0.4” is registered, into the local address columnD3, in association with the target device “TV” placed in theinstallation site “living room”.

That is to say that, having obtained the script shown in FIG. 14A, thescript analysis unit 203 specifies that a target device is a TV based on“<TargetTV</Target>” indicated in the script and that a installationsite is a living room based on “<Place>LivingRoom</Place>”. The scriptanalysis unit 203 then specifies the local address “192.168.0.4” of thedevice indicated in the script.

After the local address is specified, the script analysis unit 203allows the script sending unit 204 to transmit the script to the devicespecified by the local address.

As a result, the device having obtained the script executes the controloperation indicated in the script.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a sequence of the operations performed inthe execution support system of the present embodiment.

The car-navi 100 firstly predicts a destination (Step S150), and judgeswhether or not control operation corresponded to the destination isregistered, based on the reference to the control instruction data 124 a(Step S152).

In the case of judging that the control operation corresponded to thedestination is not registered (N in Step S152), the car-navi 100 repeatsagain the operation starting from Step S150, that is, the prediction ofa destination. In the case of judging that the control operationcorresponded to the destination is registered (Y in Step S152), thecar-navi 100 creates a script indicating the control operationcorresponded to the destination, using the script format 122 a and theparameter data 124 b (Step S154).

In the case where the destination is user's home, the car-navi 100 thentransmits the created script to the home gateway 200 set at home (StepS156).

Having received the script transmitted form the car-navi 100 (StepS158), the home gateway 200 authenticates the user who has transmittedthe script, based on the user ID included in the script (Step S160).

As a result, in the case of judging that the user having transmitted thescript is a valid user (Y in Step S160), the home gateway 200 allows thedevice to execute the control indicated in the script (Step S162). Inthe case of judging that the user is an invalid user (N in Step S160),the home gateway 200 destroys the script (Step S164).

FIG. 18 is a screen display diagram showing a display of a screen on theTV 292 having executed the script.

After obtaining the script shown in FIG. 14A, the TV 292, the TV 292executes the control operation indicated in the script, and allows themessage “You've received a message from Father”. The scheduled arrivaltime is at 21:55.” to be displayed as shown in FIG. 18. “Father” in themessage is displayed based on the user ID indicated in the scriptobtained by the TV 292.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the car-navi 100 predicts a destinationto which it is headed, so as to allow the TVs 291 and 292 as well as theair conditioners 293 and 294 to execute the control operation indicatedin the result of the prediction. The car-navi 100 can therefore supporta device execute a control operation in accordance with a behavior ofthe user using the car-navi 100 while eliminating the cumbersomeoperations imposed on the user.

Note that in the present embodiment, the car-navi 100 is made to sendonly the script to the home gateway 200, however, the prediction resultdata created by the prediction unit 108 may be sent as well. In the caseof receiving the script that instructs the home gateway 200 to “Turn theair conditioner on” as shown in FIG. 14B, the home gateway 200 judgeswhether or not the scheduled arrival time indicated in the predictionresult data is the time ten minutes or more ahead from the present time.In the case of judging that the scheduled arrival time is ten minutes ormore ahead from the present time, the home gateway 200 then inhibitstransmission of the script to the air conditioner for a while, andtransmits the script when it is ten minutes prior to the scheduledarrival time.

In this way, even in the case where the home gateway 200 receives thescript from the car-navi 100, for example, one hour prior to thescheduled arrival time, it is possible to appropriately reduce theamount of electrical power consumption, without that the air conditioneridles for as long as an hour in the room without a person.

Instead of making the home gateway 200 to delay the transmission of thescript, the control operation “Turn on the air conditioner in thelibrary twenty minutes prior to the arrival” may be added to the controloperation column A4 of the control instruction data 124 a shown in FIG.12 and parameters “Arrival (time)” and “20 minutes” may be registeredbesides the parameter “onSwitch” as the parameters necessary forexecuting the control. In this way, after the car-navi 100 has thuscreated the script indicating such control operation and has transmittedthe script, the air conditioner 293 in the library receives the scriptvia the home gateway 200, and turns the air conditioner on at the time20 minutes prior to the arrival of the user using the car-navi 100. Thatis to say that the air conditioner 293 specifies the time to turn theair conditioner on based on “Arrival (time)” and “20 minutes” indicatedin the script, and executes the operation at the specified time. As aresult, even in the case where the air conditioner 293 receives, via thehome gateway 200, the script at the time 1 hour prior to the scheduledarrival time, it is possible to appropriately reduce the amount ofelectrical power consumption without letting the air conditioner 293idle for an hour in the library without a person. Moreover, it ispossible to set an appropriate parameter (i.e., a time of starting upthe air conditioner) what ever time the user may get home, for theparameter that changes every day, and thereby to adaptively performcontrol. Besides that the home gateway 200 or the air conditioner 293 tobe controlled controls the timing of execution based on the scripttransmitted from the car-navi 100, the car-navi 100 may control thetiming of the transmission of the script, while the home gateway 200 orthe air conditioner 293 executes the processing as soon as it receivesthe script. In the above example, the time at which the air conditioner293 is turned on is controlled based on the script, however, the time atwhich other device should be operated may be surely controlled.

For example, the air conditioner 293 may specify the time at which theair conditioner 293 should be turned on, based on the scheduled arrivaltime and a preset temperature which are indicated in the receivedscript, and an actual room temperature, so as to execute the operationat the specified time. In such case, the parameter “Arrival (time)” maybe added to the parameter data 124 b as a parameter that corresponds tothe control number “0003”, and a temperature sensor for detecting anactual room temperature may be set in the air conditioner 293. In thecase of receiving the script that corresponds to the control number“0003”, the air conditioner 293 is turned on at the specified time basedon the scheduled arrival time and the preset temperature which areindicated in the script, and the room temperature detected by thetemperature sensor. That is to say that, in the case where a gap betweenthe preset temperature and the actual temperature is large, the airconditioner 293 is turned on at the time sufficiently earlier than thescheduled arrival time, and in the case where the gap is small, the airconditioner 293 is turned on slightly earlier than the scheduled arrivaltime. Thus, it is possible to prevent the case where the actualtemperature has not reached the preset temperature when the useroperating the car-navi 100 gets home, and thereby to appropriatelyreduce the amount of electrical power consumption.

The air conditioner 293 may further include a function to notify thecar-navi 100 of the result of the execution. For example, in the casewhere the air conditioner 293 is turned on with the preset temperatureof 24° C. based on the script transmitted from the car-navi 100, the airconditioner 293 transmits result notification data indicating that theair conditioner 293 is turned on and that the preset temperature is 24°C., to the car-navi 100 via the home gateway 200. Having obtained suchresult notification data, the car-navi 100 displays the detail of theresult notification data on the screen so as to notify the user of it.Thus, the user can grasp the operational state of the device indicatedin the result notification data, which leads to the enhancement of theusability. Furthermore, the car-navi 100 may include a function to sendan instruction so that the operational state of the device indicated inthe result notification data is changed. For example, the car-navi 100having displayed the result notification data “The air conditioner inthe library is turned on. The preset temperature is 24° C.”, creates ascript indicating an instruction to change the preset temperature to 26°C. according to the user's operation. The car-navi 100 transmits thescript to the air conditioner 293 via the home gateway 200. Havingobtained such script, the air conditioner 293 changes the presettemperature from 24° C. to 26° C. Thus, the usability can be furtherimproved for the user. In the present embodiment, it is the car-navi 100that predicts its destination, however, the car-navi 100 may judgewhether or not the prediction is correct or incorrect. In the case ofjudging that the user's car is headed to a place different from apredicted destination after the transmission of the script thatcorresponds to the predicted destination, the car-navi 100 transmitsanother script indicating an instruction to cancel the control indicatedin the transmitted script. For example, in the case of havingtransmitted the script indicating an instruction to “Turn the airconditioner on”, the car-navi 100 transmits a script indicating aninstruction to “Turn the air conditioner off”. In the case of havingtransmitted the script indicating an instruction to “Notify user'sarrival time”, the car-navi 100 transmits a script indicating aninstructing to “Notify that the notified arrival time is wrong”.

In this way, it is possible to allow each of the devices to executeappropriate control even when the prediction made by the car-navi 100 isincorrect.

Second Embodiment

The following describes the execution support system according to thesecond embodiment of the preset invention, with reference to thediagrams.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a structure of the execution support systemof the present embodiment.

The execution support system 2 according to the present embodimentsupports a device execute a control operation in accordance with theuser's behavior while eliminating the troublesome operations imposed onthe user, as is the case of the first embodiment. Such execution supportsystem 2 includes: a car-navi 100A placed in the car; a hospitalterminal 391 set in a hospital; a store terminal 392 placed in arestaurant; and a server 300 that communicates with the hospitalterminal 391, the store terminal 392 and the car-navi 100A via theInternet 900.

Under such execution support system 2, reception services that can beaccepted by the hospital terminal 391 in the hospital and the storeterminal 392 in the restaurant are previously registered in the server300 as the operations to be controlled by the hospital terminal 391 andthe store terminal 392. In the case where the car-navi 100A predictsthat the car is headed to the hospital, the server-300 notifies thecar-navi 100A of some reception services available at the hospitalterminal 391. After the car-navi 100A selects, for example, areservation for consultation, from the presented reception servicesaccording to the user's operation, the server 300 allows the hospitalterminal 391 to make a reservation for consultation. In other words, theserver 300 allows the hospital terminal 391 to execute registration ofthe information indicating a reservation for consultation.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing functional structures of the server300 and the car-navi 100A.

The server 300 includes the following units: a registration informationholding unit 302 that previously holds registration information 302 a; auser information holding unit 301 that previously holds user information301 a; a reception service information creation unit 303 that createsreception service information indicating the reception servicesaccording to the destination of the car-navi 100A, based on theregistration information 302 a and the user information 301 a; a serversending/receiving unit 304 that sends and receives signals via theInternet 900; a format holding unit 306 that previously holds a scriptformat 306 a; and a script creation unit 305 that creates a script usingthe script format 306 a.

The car-navi 100A includes the following units: a prediction functionunit 110A that predicts a destination where the car-navi 100A is headingfor; a selection function unit 130 that selects any of the receptionservices included in the reception service information obtained from theserver 300; and a navigation sending/receiving unit 139 that sends andreceives signals via the Internet 900.

The prediction function unit 110A has the same functions as theprediction function unit 110 according to the first embodiment, such asthe position detection unit 101, the node judgment unit 102, the mapinformation holding unit 103, the history storage unit 104, thethreshold calculation unit 105, the transition-state informationcreation unit 106, the condition determination unit 107, and theprediction unit 108. Such prediction function unit 110A predicts adestination where the car-navi 100A is heading for, and allows thenavigation sending/receiving unit 139 to transmit the prediction resultdata indicating the destination and a scheduled arrival time. Thenavigation sending/receiving unit 139 transmits, to the server 300, auser ID of the user operating the car-navi 100A together with theprediction result data.

The selection function unit 130 temporarily stores the reception serviceinformation from the server 300, and includes: a save processing unit134 that performs processing based on the reception service information;a display unit 132 that displays the details indicated in the receptionservice information; an operation unit 131 that outputs an operationsignal according to the user's operation; and a selection determinationunit 133 that selects any of the reception services indicated in thereception service information, according to the operation signal fromthe operation unit 131.

The hospital terminal 391 in a hospital and the store terminal 392 in arestaurant obtain the script so as to execute the control indicated inthe script.

FIG. 21 is an information display diagram showing the details includedin the registration information 302 a held in the registrationinformation holding unit 302.

The registration information 302 a indicates reception services that canbe accepted by the terminals placed in each of the facilities such asthe hospital terminal 391 in the hospital and the store terminal 392 inthe restaurant. Such registration information 302 a has the followingcolumns: a facility E1; an address E2; a reception service E3; aparameter number E4; and an hours column E5. A name of facility and itsnode number are registered into the facility column E1, and an addressof the terminal placed in the facility is registered into the addresscolumn E2, while reception services are registered into the receptionservice column E3. A parameter number assigned to each of the receptionservices are registered into the parameter number column E4 while aperiod of time during which each reception services can be accepted isregistered into the hours column E5.

For example, in the registration information 302 a, a name of facilityand its node number “XX Hospital, node number L245” as well as anaddress “123.456.7.8” of the hospital terminal 391 set in the hospitalis registered. The items like “reservation for consultation”“reservation for rehabilitation” and “receiving a prescription” are alsoregistered as the reception services accepted by the hospital terminal391. In the case where the hospital terminal 391 also receives“reservation for consultation” for “internal medicine” and “surgery”separately, “internal medicine” or “surgery” is registered inassociation with “reservation for consultation”.

A parameter number “A01” is registered for the reception service“reservation for consultation/internal medicine” while a parameternumber “A02” is registered for the reception service “reservation forconsultation/surgery”.

In the case where the hospital terminal 391 receives the receptionservice “reservation for consultation/internal medicine” during thehours “10:00-12:00” and “13:00-15:00”, such hours are registered inassociation with “reservation for consultation/internal medicine”.

Such information related to “XX Hospital” is registered into theregistration information 302 a held in the registration informationholding unit 302, through the operations carried out by the hospitalterminal 391 via a connection with the server 300.

FIG. 22 is a screen display diagram showing an example of the screen ofthe hospital terminal 391 in the case where the information related tothe hospital is registered into the registration information 302 a.

For example, after a manager of the hospital connects the hospitalterminal 391 to the server 300 by operating the hospital terminal 391 soas to input a name of the hospital, the server 300 allows the hospitalterminal 391 to display the screen as shown in FIG. 2. On the screen,some of the candidates for reception services are displayed.

The manager then selects, from the candidates, the reception servicesthat can be accepted by the hospital terminal 391, by operating thehospital terminal 391. For example, in the case where the receptionservice “reservation for consultation” can be accepted, a check box Bx51is ticked. The medical fields of consultation are inputted into inputboxes Bx61 and Bx62, and the reception hours of the reception service“reservation for consultation” performed in the respective medicaldepartments are inputted into an input box Bx80.

For other information to be provided from the server 300 to the car-navi100A, the manager inputs information such as “60 staffs, equipped withinpatient settings, parking lots available”. When the button “OK” isselected, the details inputted on the screen are registered into theregistration information 302 a.

In such registration information 302 a, a name of the facility “Let'sDrop In”, its node number “L246”, an address “123.567.8.9” of the storeterminal 392 set in the restaurant, and the reception services that therestaurant accepts such as “number of persons for reservation”, “order”and “selection of payment method” are registered. In the case where thestore terminal 392 accepts from 1 person up to 50 persons for “number ofpersons for reservation”, “1 person”, “2 persons” . . . “50 persons” areregistered in association with “number of persons for reservation”.

The parameter number “B0101” is registered for the reception service“number of persons for reservation/1 person” while the parameter number“B0103” is registered for the reception of “number of persons forreservation/3 persons”.

In the case where the store terminal 392 accepts the reception serviceof “number of persons for reservation” during the hour “8:00-23:00”,such hour is registered in association with the reception of “number ofpersons for reservation”.

Such information related to the “restaurant ‘Let's Drop In’” isregistered into the registration information 302 a held in theregistration information holding unit 302, by operating the storeterminal 392 via a connection with the server 300.

FIG. 23 is an information display diagram showing the contents includedin the user information 301 a held in the user information holding unit301.

The user information 301 a indicates a history of the reception servicesaccepted through the selection as well as preset reception services.Such user information 301 a has the following columns: a user ID F1; afacility F2, and a parameter number F3. The parameter number column F3further includes an initial setting F31, and a history F32. A user ID ofthe user operating the car-navi 100A is registered into the user IDcolumn F1, and a name of the facility and its node number are registeredinto the facility column F2 in association with the user ID, while therespective parameter numbers are registered into the initial settingcolumns F31 and the history column F32 in the parameter number columnF3. The parameter numbers are registered in a chorological order intothe column F32. In other words, the parameter numbers of the utilizedreception services are registered in such a manner that the closer thetime when the service is provided is to the present time, the higher theparameter number is located.

For example, a user ID “0001”, the name of the facility that correspondsto the user ID and its node number “XX Hospital, node number L245”, theparameter numbers “A01, A08 and A10” of the reception services that arepreset for the user ID and the facility, and the parameter numbers “A01,A05 and A11, . . . ”, and the reception services utilized in the pastwith regard to the user ID and the facility are registered into the userinformation 301 a.

That is to say that the user information 301 a indicates that the userhaving the user ID “0001” previously sets “reservation for consultationat department of internal medicine”, “selection of payment method” and“emergency response is not required” for the reception services at the“XX Hospital”, and has utilized the services of the reception such as“reservation for consultation at department of internal medicine”,“receiving medical prescription at department of internal medicine” and“appointing Dr. Yamada” in the past.

Having obtained the prediction result data and the user ID from thecar-navi 100A via the server sending/receiving unit 304, the receptionservice information creation unit 303 extracts, from the registrationinformation 302 a, the reception services which are available at thedestination indicated in the prediction result data and at the time whenthe prediction result data is obtained. The reception serviceinformation creation unit 303 creates reception service informationbased on the extracted reception services in such a manner that apriority of the reception service, whose parameter number is registeredin association with the user ID obtained from the car-navi 100A into theuser information 301 a, gets higher.

Namely, the reception service information creation unit 303 judgeswhether or not the user ID obtained from the car-navi 100A and thedestination (node number) indicated in the prediction result data areregistered in association with the user information 301 a. In the caseof judging that they are associated with each other, the receptionservice information creation unit 303 searches for the parameter numberthat is registered in association with the user ID and the destination(node number) in the initial setting column F31 and the history columnF32. In the case where the parameter number is registered in the initialsetting column F31 and the history column F32, the reception serviceinformation creation unit 303 creates reception service information sothat the priority of the reception service corresponding to theparameter number gets high.

The reception service information creation unit 303 creates receptionservice information in such a manner that a priority of the receptionservice whose parameter number is registered into the initial settingcolumn F31 is higher than a priority of the reception service whoseparameter number is registered into the history column F32, and alsothat a priority of the reception service with the parameter number,whose recent occurrence frequency is the highest among the receptionservices of the parameter numbers registered in the history column F32,gets higher.

For example, having obtained, from the car-navi 100A, the predictionresult data indicating the destination “node number L245” and the userID “0001”, the reception service information creation unit 303 extracts,from the registration information 302 a, the reception servicesavailable at the destination “node number L245”, that is, the facility“XX Hospital”. The reception creation unit 303 then refers to the userinformation 301 a so as to search in the initial setting column F31 andthe history column F32, for the parameter numbers associated with theuser ID “0001” and the destination “node number L245”. The initialsetting column F31 includes the parameter numbers “A01, A08 and A10” andthe history column F32 includes the parameter numbers “A01 and A11”whose recent occurrence frequency is high. The reception serviceinformation creation unit 303 therefore creates reception serviceinformation so that a high priority is given to the reception servicessuch as “reservation for consultation at department of internalmedicine”, “selection of payment method” and “emergency response is notrequired” among the extracted reception services available in the “XXHospital” and a secondly high priority is given to the reception service“appointing Dr. Yamada”.

Then, the reception service information creation unit 303 allows theserver sending/receiving unit 304 to transmit the created receptionservice information to the car-navi 100A.

Having obtained the reception service information from the server 300via the navigation sending/receiving unit 139, the save processing unit134 of the car-navi 100A temporarily stores the reception serviceinformation and analyzes the reception services and their prioritiesindicated in the reception service information. Then, the saveprocessing unit 134 allows the display unit 132 to display in such amanner that the reception service with higher priority is selected.

The selection determination unit 133 obtains the reception serviceinformation from the save processing unit 134, and also selects, fromamong the reception services indicated in the reception serviceinformation, the reception service indicated in the operation signalsent from the operation unit 131, and then allows the navigationsending/receiving unit 139 to transmit the result of the selection tothe server 300.

That is to say, the user operating the car-navi 100A looks at severalreception services displayed by the display unit 132 and specifies someof them by operating the operation unit 131.

FIGS. 24(a) through 24(g) are screen display diagrams for describingscreens to be displayed by the display unit 132.

The following describes the case where the reception services such as“number of persons for reservation”, “order”, and “selection of paymentmethod” with regard to the name of the facility “restaurant ‘Let's DropIn’” are included in the reception service information.

Since the reception process “number of persons for reservation” isincluded in the reception service information, the save processing unit134 firstly allows the display unit 132 to display the screen forinquiring whether or not a reservation is required.

As shown in FIG. 24(a), the display unit 132 displays a message thatgoes “Do you make a reservation at the restaurant ‘Let's Drop In’?”, areservation button Bt1 on which “Reserve” is indicated, and a cancelbutton Bt2 on which “No” is indicated.

When the reservation button Bt1 is selected through the user's operationoperating the operation unit 131, the save processing unit 134 allowsthe display unit 132 to display a screen for inquiring on the number ofpersons for reservation.

As shown in FIG. 24(b), the display unit 132 displays a message “For howmany persons?”, a number input box Bx1 for inputting the number ofpersons, and a determination button Bt3 on which “Determine” isindicated.

When the determination button Bt3 is selected through the user'soperation operating the operation unit 131 for inputting “2” into thenumber input box Bx1, the selection determination unit 133 selects“number of persons for reservation/2 persons” among the receptionservices included in the reception service information from the server300, and temporarily stores the result of the selection.

Next, the save processing unit 134 firstly allows the display unit 132to display a screen for inquiring on whether or not an order needs to bemade, since the reception service information includes the receptionservice “order”.

As shown in FIG. 24(c), the display unit 132 displays a message “Wouldyou like to order?”, an order button Bt4 on which “Order” is indicated,and a cancel button Bt5 on which “No” is indicated.

When the order button Bt4 is selected through the user's operationoperating the operation unit 131, the save processing unit 134 allowsthe display unit 132 to display a screen for inquiring an order.

As shown in FIG. 24(b), the display unit 132 displays menus such as“Today's Special 600 yens”, “Seafood Meal 700 yens”, and “Kiddy Lunch500 yens” as well as a check box Bx2 for selecting whether or not toorder each of the menus and a number input box Bx3 for inputting aquantity for each menu. The display unit 132 also displays an orderbutton Bt6 on which “Order” is indicated.

The user ticks the check box Bx2 that corresponds to the menu “Today'sSpecial”, inputs “1” into the number input box Bx3, ticks the check boxBx2 that corresponds to the menu “Kiddy Lunch”, inputs “1” into thenumber input box Bx3, and selects the order button Bt6.

In this way, the selection determination unit 133 selects “order/Today'sSpecial/1” and “order/Kiddy Lunch/1” from among the reception servicesincluded in the reception service information obtained from the server300, and temporarily saves the selection.

Next, the save processing unit 134 allows the display unit 132 todisplay a screen for inquiring on the method of payment since thereception service information includes the reception service “selectionof payment method”.

As shown in FIG. 24(e), the display unit 132 displays a message “Pleaseselect a method of payment, by credit-card or cash.”, a credit-cardbutton Bt7 on which “Credit-card” is indicated, a cash button Bt8 onwhich “Cash” is indicated, and a not-yet-determined button Bt9 on which“Not-yet-determined” is indicated.

When the credit-card button Bt7 is selected through the user's operationoperating the operation unit 131, the selection determination unit 133selects “payment method/credit-card” from among the reception servicesincluded in the reception service information obtained from the server300, and temporarily saves the selection.

Next, the save processing unit 134 allows the display unit to displayall the information temporarily saved through the selection made by theselection determination unit 133.

As shown in FIG. 24(f), the display unit 132 displays “2 persons” forthe number of persons for reservation, “Today's Special/1” and “KiddyLunch/1” as the ordered menus, “1100 yens” as a total amount of payment,“credit-card” as a method of payment, and a confirmation button Bt10 onwhich “Confirm” is indicated.

When the user selects the confirmation button Bt10 through the operationon the operation unit 131, the selection determination unit 133transmits, from the navigation sending/receiving unit 139 to the server300, all the reception services temporarily saved so far, that is, theresult of the selection made by the selection determination unit 133.

As shown in FIG. 24(g), the save processing unit 134 then allows thedisplay unit 132 to display a message “We welcome you at our restaurant.Your reservation number is 028.”. The number “028” included in themessage is a number assigned by the server 300. That is to say that, theserver 300, having obtained the selection result from the car-navi 100A,assigns, for each destination, a reservation number in an order ofobtaining the selection result and notifies the car-navi 100A of thenumber.

Thus, the car-navi 100A selects a reception service, and notifies theserver 300 of the selection. For example, in the case where a parameternumber “B0102” indicating “number of persons for reservation/2 persons”is registered into the initial setting column F31 in the userinformation 301 a, or the parameter number “B0102” is frequentlyregistered into the history column F32 in the user information 301 a,the reception service information creation unit 303 in the server 303creates reception service information based on such user information 301a and transmits the created reception service information to thecar-navi 100A. The save processing unit 134 in the car-navi 100A allowsthe display unit 132 to display “2” in the number input box Bx1 as shownin FIG. 24(b). That is to say that reception service information iscreated so that a priority of the reception service with the parameternumber “B0102” gets higher, and the save processing unit 134 in thecar-navi 100A allows the display unit 132 to display the receptionservice in such a manner that the reception service “number of personsfor reservation/2 persons” is easily selected.

For example, in the case where a parameter number “B0301” indicating“order/Today's Special/1” is frequently registered into the historycolumn F32 of the user information 301 a, the reception serviceinformation creation unit 303 in the server 300 creates receptionservice information so that a priority of the reception service“order/Today's Special/1” gets higher. Therefore, the save processingunit 134 in the car-navi 100A allows the display unit 132 to firstlydisplay “Today's Special” on the screen of the display unit 132 as shownin FIG. 24(d). Namely, the save processing unit 134 in the car-navi 100Aallows the display unit 132 to display the reception service“order/Today's Special/1” with the parameter number “B0301” in such amanner that the reception service “order/Today's Special/i” with theparameter number “BO301” is easily selected. The present system thusoperates based on a history of the accepted reception services, andtherefore has a learning function.

FIGS. 25(a) through 25(g) are screen display diagrams for describingother screens to be displayed by the display unit 132.

The following describes the case where reception services which arerelated to the name of facility “XX Hospital”, such as “reservation forconsultation” “reservation for rehabilitation”, “receiving medicalprescription”, selection of payment method”, “requirement for emergencyresponse” and “appointment of doctor”, are included in the receptionservice information.

As the reception service information includes the reception service“reservation for consultation” and others, the save processing unit 134allows the display unit 132 to firstly display a screen for inquiring onwhether or not a reservation needs to be made.

As shown in FIG. 25(a), the display unit 132 displays a message “XXHospital, Do you make a reservation?”, a reservation Bt21 on which“Reserve” is indicated, and a cancel button Bt22 on which “No” isindicated. As described in FIG. 22, in the case where information suchas “60 staffs, equipped with inpatient settings, parking lots available”is registered in the server 300 by a manager of the hospital, suchinformation may be displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 25(a).

When the reservation button Bt 21 is selected through the user'soperation operating the operating unit 131, the save processing unit 134allows the display unit 132 to display a screen for inquiring on thedetails of the reservation.

As shown in FIG. 25(b), the display unit 132 displays the items forreservation such as “consultation, internal medicine/surgery”,“rehabilitation, internal medicine/surgery”, “prescription, internalmedicine/surgery”, a selection check box Bx11 for selecting whether ornot a reservation is required for each of the items, and a determinationbutton Bt23 on which “Determine” is indicated.

When the selection check button Bx11 that corresponds to the item“consultation, internal medicine/surgery” is ticked through the user'soperation operating the operation unit 131 and the confirmation buttonBt23 is selected, the selection determination unit 133 selects“consultation, internal medicine” among the reception services includedin the reception service information from the server 300, andtemporarily save the result of the selection.

Next, since the reception service information includes the receptionservice “requirement for urgency response”, the save processing unit 134allows the display unit 132 to display a screen for inquiring on whetheror not urgency response is required.

As shown in FIG. 25(c), the display unit 132 displays a message “Urgencyis required?”, an urgency button Bt24 on which “Yes” is indicated, and aurgency non-required button Bt25 on which “No” is indicated.

When the urgency non-required button Bt25 is selected through the user'soperation operating the operation unit 131, the selection determinationunit 133 selects “urgency response is not required” from among thereception services included in the reception service information fromthe server 300, and temporarily saves the result of the selection.

Since the reception service “appointment of doctor” is included in thereception service information, the save processing unit 134 inquires onwhether or not to appoint a doctor, and allows the display unit 132 todisplay a screen for inquiring on the doctor to be appointed.

As shown in FIG. 25(d), the display unit 132 displays doctors' namessuch as “Yamada”, “Tanaka” and “Nakayama”, a check box Bx12 forinputting a name of the doctor to be appointed, an appointment buttonBt26 on which “Appoint” is indicated, and a non-selection button Bt27 onwhich “No” is indicated.

When the check box Bx12 that corresponds to Dr. Yamada is ticked throughthe user's operation operating the operation unit 131, and the selectingbutton Bt26 is selected, the save processing unit 134 selects“appointment of doctor/Yamada” from among the reception servicesincluded in the reception service information from the server 300, andtemporarily saves the result of the selection.

Since the reception service information includes the reception service“selection of payment method”, the save processing unit 134 allows thedisplay unit 132 to display a screen for inquiring on a method ofpayment.

As shown in FIG. 25(e), the display unit 132 displays a message “Pleaseselect a method of payment, by credit-card or cash.”, a credit-cardbutton Bt28 on which “Credit-card” is indicated, a cash button Bt29 onwhich “Cash” is indicated, and a not-yet-determined button Bt30 on which“Not-yet-determined” is indicated.

When the cash button Bt29 is selected through the user's operationoperating the operation unit 131, the selection determination unit 133selects “payment method/cash” from among the reception services includedin the reception service information obtained from the server 300, andtemporarily saves them.

The save processing unit 134 then allows the display unit 132 to displayall the information temporarily saved through the selection made by theselection determination unit 133.

As shown in FIG. 25(f), the display unit 132 displays“consultation/internal medicine” for reservation, “not required” forurgency response, “Yamada” for doctor's name, “cash” for payment method,as well as a confirmation button Bt31 on which “Confirm” is indicated.

When the confirmation button Bt31 is selected through the user'soperation operating the operation unit 131, the selection determinationunit 133 transmits, from the navigation sending/receiving unit 139 tothe server 300, all the reception services temporarily saved so far,that is, the result of the selection made by the selection determinationunit 133.

As shown in FIG. 25(g), the save processing unit 134 allows the displayunit 132 to display a message “The reservation is accepted. Yourreservation number is 005.”.

For example, in the case where a parameter number “A01” indicating“reservation for consultation/internal medicine” is registered into theinitial setting column F31, or the parameter number “A01” is frequentlyregistered into the history column F32 in the user information 301 a,the reception service information creation unit 303 in the server 300creates reception service information so that a priority of thereception service “reservation for consultation/internal medicine” getshigher. Therefore, the save processing unit 134 of the car-navi 100Aallows the display unit 132 to firstly display “consultation/internalmedicine”, and the check box Bx11 corresponding to“consultation/internal medicine” that is already ticked.

For example, in the case where a parameter number “A11” indicating“appointment of doctor/Yamada” is frequently registered into the historycolumn F32 of the user information 301 a, the reception serviceinformation creation unit 303 creates reception service information sothat a priority of the reception service “appointment of doctor/Yamada”gets higher. Therefore, the save processing unit 134 in the car-navi100A allows the display unit 132 to firstly display “Yamada”, and thecheck box Bx12 corresponding to “Yamada” that is already ticked.

Thus, the user operating the car-navi 100A can easily select receptionservices, which leads to the enhancement of the usability. The displayunit 132 of the car-navi 100A may display all the reception servicesrespectively having a parameter number registered into the initialsetting column F31 of the user information 301 a. In this case, it ispossible for the user to more easily select the reception service thatis previously set, by pressing the confirmation button.

Note that with a speech recognizing function equipped in the car-navi10A, the selection of buttons such as a confirmation button and adetermination button may be operated by inputting user's voice.

The script creation unit 305 in the server 300 obtains the result of theselection and the user ID from the car-navi 100A via the serversending/receiving unit 304. The script creation unit 305 then creates ascript by inputting, as parameters, the reception services selected bythe car-navi 100A, the user ID, the scheduled arrival time indicated inthe prediction result data, into a script format 306 a held in theformat holding unit 306. The script creation unit 305 also updates theparameter numbers registered into the history column F32 of the userinformation 301 a held in the user information holding unit 301, basedon the reception services selected by the car-navi 100A.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of the script format 306 a heldin the format holding unit 306.

As shown in FIG. 26, the script format 306 a is formed so that a user ID(<User ID>), the number of persons for reservation (<Num>), a scheduledarrival time (<ArrivalTime>) and a menu for order (<Menu>) are inputted.

The format holding unit 306 may hold not only one but plural types ofsuch script format 306 a.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of the script created by thescript creation unit 305.

In the script, “251” is inputted as the user ID (<UserID>), “4 persons”,as the number of persons for reservation (<Num>), “18:20”, as thescheduled arrival time (<ArrivalTime>), and “Today's Special/2, Seafoodmeal/1, Kiddy Lunch/1”, as the menu for order (<Menu>).

The script creation unit 305 transmits such script from the serversending/receiving unit 304 to the store terminal 392, and allows thestore terminal 392 to execute the control indicated in the script.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a sequence of operations performed in theexecution support system according to the present embodiment.

Firstly, the car-navi 100A predicts a destination (Step S170), andtransmits, to the server 300, the prediction result data indicating thatthe destination is “XX Hospital, node number L245” (Step S172).

Then, after having received the prediction result data transmitted fromthe car-navi 100A (Step S174), the server 300 judges whether or not thereception service which is accepted at the time when the predictionresult data is received is registered into the registration information302 a in association with the destination “XX Hospital, node numberL245” indicated in the prediction result data (Step S176).

In the case where the reception service available at the received timeis registered in association with the destination “XX Hospital, nodenumber L245” (Y in Step S176), the server 300 then transmits, to thecar-navi 100A, the reception service information indicating the detailsof the reception service (Step S178). In the case where the receptionservice is not registered (N in Step S176), the server 300 repeatedlyexecutes the operation starting from Step S174.

Having obtained the reception service information from the server 300(Step S180), the car-navi 100A displays the reception service indicatedin the reception service information (Step S182), and judges whether ornot the user has instructed for selection of reception services (StepS184).

In the case where it is judged that such selection instruction is sentfrom the user (Y in Step S184), the car-navi 100A notifies the server300 of the selection result indicating the selected reception services(Step S186). In the case where it is judged that such selectioninstruction is not sent from the user (N in Step S184), or after thenotification of the selection result in Step S186, the car-navi 100Adeletes the reception service information obtained from the server 300(Step S192).

Having obtained the selection result from the server 300 (Step S188),the server 300 creates a script based on it (Step S190). The server 300then transmits the script to the hospital terminal 391 represented as“XX Hospital, node number L245” that is the destination notified by thecar-navi 100A (Step S194).

The hospital terminal 391 receives the script from the server 300, andexecutes the details indicated in the script (Step S196). For example,the hospital terminal 391 accepts “reservation for consultation/internalmedicine” or the like.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, in the case where thecar-navi 100A predicts that the car is headed, for example, to ahospital, the server 300 notifies the car-navi 100A of several receptionservices that are acceptable by the hospital terminal 391, and allowsthe hospital terminal 391 to execute the reception services selected bythe car-navi 100A. Therefore, it is possible to support the deviceexecute a control operation in accordance with the user's behavior whileeliminating the cumbersome tasks imposed on the user, and also toenhance the usability by allowing the user to select the receptionservice that is the control operation.

Note that the registration information 302 a held in the server 300 mayinclude a waiting time for each reception service available at eachfacility. For example, the hospital terminal 391 registers, into theregistration information 302 a held by the server 300, a waiting timefor a consultation at a department of internal medicine in the XXHospital so that the waiting time is associated with the receptionservice “reservation for consultation/internal medicine”. The hospitalterminal 391 updates the registered waiting time at intervals ofpredetermined time.

In such case, the reception service information creation unit 303 in theserver 300 creates reception service information so that the informationincludes the waiting time, while the save processing unit 134 in thecar-navi 100A having obtained the reception service information allowsthe display unit 132 to display the waiting time. For example, the saveprocessing unit 134 allows the waiting time to be displayed on thescreen as shown in FIG. 25(b) in association with the reception service“reservation for consultation/internal medicine”.

Thus, the user operating the car-navi 100A is informed of the waitingtime, which leads to the improvement of the usability.

The reception service information creation unit 303 may further createreception service information so that the information includes theservice hours registered into the hours column E5 of the registrationinformation 302 a, while the save processing unit 134 in the car-navi100A having obtained the reception service information may allow thedisplay unti 132 to display the service hours. For example, the saveprocessing unit 134 allows the hours “10:00-12:00, 13:00-15:00” to bedisplayed on the screen shown in FIG. 25(b) in association with thereception service “reservation for consultation/internal medicine”.

In this way, the user operating the car-navi 100A is informed of theservice hours, which improves the usability.

Third Embodiment

The following describes the execution support system according to thethird embodiment of the present invention, with reference to thediagrams.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a structure of the execution support systemaccording to the present embodiment.

The execution support system 3 according to the present embodiment, asis the case of the first and second embodiments, supports a deviceexecute a control operation in accordance with the user's behavior whileeliminating the troublesome operations imposed on the user. Suchexecution support system 3 includes the following units: a car-navi 100Binstalled in the car; a home terminal 500 that is set, for instance, ina home place of the user operating the car-navi 100B; a cell phone 600;and a server 400 that communicates with the car-navi 100B, the cellphone 600 and the home terminal 500 via the Internet 900.

Under such execution support system 3, plural types of messages forsending a notification to the car-navi 100B and the cell phone 600 arepreviously registered into the server 400 by the home terminal 500. Inthe case where the car-navi 100B predicts that the car is headed to asuperstore, the server 400 selects, from among the previously registeredmessages, a message that corresponds to the user's behavior of “headingfor a superstore”, e.g., a message “I want you to get some beef.” andnotifies the car-navi 100B of the message, so as to cause the car-navi100B to execute the control indicating a display of the message “I wantyou to get some beef”.

FIG. 30 is a function block diagram showing a functional structure ofthe car-navi 100B, the server 400, and the home terminal 500.

The car-navi 100B includes a prediction function unit 110B that predictsa destination to which the car-navi 100B is headed; a sending/receivingunit 160 that sends and receives signals via the Internet 900; and amessage display unit 150 that displays the message obtained from theserver 400 via the sending/receiving unit 160.

The prediction function unit 110B has the same structure and function asthe prediction function unit of the first embodiment, and includes theposition detection unit 101, the node judgment unit 102, the mapinformation holding unit 103, the history storage unit 104, thethreshold calculation unit 105, the transition-state informationcreation unit 106, the condition determination unit 107, and theprediction unit 108. Such prediction function unit 110B predicts adestination where the car-navi 100B is heading for, and transmits theprediction result data indicating the destination and a scheduledarrival time, from the sending/receiving unit 160 to the server 400 viathe Internet 900. The sending/receiving unit 160 transmits, to theserver 400, a user ID of the user operating the car-navi 100B togetherwith the prediction result data.

The cell phone 600 has the prediction function unit 100B, thesending/receiving unit 160 and the message display unit 150 having thesame structure and function as those of the car-navi 100B.

Knowing that the car-navi 100B and the cell phone 600 are heading for apredetermined destination, the server 400 transmits respectively to thecar-navi 100B and the cell phone 600, a message that corresponds to thedestination. Such server 400 includes a registration function unit 420that registers messages, a search and extraction function unit 410 thatperforms search and extraction of a registered message, and a serversending/receiving unit 430 that sends and receives signals via theInternet 900.

The registration function unit 420 includes: a group information holdingunit 421 that previously holds user group information 421 a indicating agroup to which the user using the present system belongs; a registrationunit 422 that accepts a registration of message from the home terminal500; and a registration information storing unit 423 that has an areafor storing, as the registration information 423 a, the message acceptedby the registration unit 422.

The search and extraction function unit 410 includes the followingunits: a user identification unit 412 that obtains the prediction resultdata and the user ID from the car-navi 100B via the serversending/receiving unit 430 and identifies a user specified by the userID; a category information holding unit 411 that previously holdscategory information 411 a indicating a category of each facility; acategory specification unit 413 that specifies a category of thedestination indicated in the prediction result data; a message searchunit 415 that searches for a message in the registration information 423a; and a transmission data creation unit 414 that creates transmissiondata for transmitting the message extracted through the search.

In contrast, the home terminal 500 includes the following units: aninput unit 501 made up of a keyboard and a mouse which constitutes, forexample, a personal computer and outputs an operation signal thatcorresponds to the user's operation; a display unit 502 that displayscharacters and graphics; a PC sending/receiving unit 504 that sends andreceives signals via the Internet 900; and a control instruction unit503 that controls the display unit 502 and the PC receiving/sending unit504.

FIG. 31 is an information display diagram showing the details includedin the user group information 421 a held in the group informationholding unit 421.

The user group information 421 a has the following columns: a user IDG1; a group G2; and a member G3. The membercolumn G3 includes a nicknamecolumn G31 and a member user ID column G32. A user ID of the userutilizing the present system is registered into the user ID column G1,and a group to which the user belongs is registered into the groupcolumn G2, while a member of the group is registered into the membercolumn G3. A nickname given to each user is registered into the nicknamecolumn G31, and a user ID assigned to a member (i.e. user) with thenickname is registered into the member user ID column G32.

For example, in the user group information 421 a, a user ID “20132” of anickname “Mother” using the home terminal 500 is registered into theuser ID column GI. Groups such as “family” and “kindergarten” to which“Mother” belongs are registered into the group column G2, nicknames suchas “Father”, “Mother”, “Taro” and “Hanako” are registered into thenickname column G31 in association with the group “family”, while a userID “20131” of the nickname “Father” is registered into the member userID column F32 in association with the nickname “Father”.

Being accessed by the home terminal 500 via the internet 900, theregistration unit 422 allows the display unit 502 to display a screenfor accepting a message to be registered into the registrationinformation 423 a.

The registration unit 422 allows the screen to be displayed based on theuser group information 421 a.

FIGS. 32(a) through 32(c) are screen display diagrams respectivelyshowing an example of the screen which the registration unit 422 allowsthe display unit 502 of the home terminal 500 to display.

When being accessed by the home terminal 500, the registration unit 422allows the display unit 502 to display a screen for inquiring on a userID and a password of the user operating the input unit 501 of the hometerminal 500, as shown in FIG. 32(a).

When the user “Mother” inputs her user ID and password by operating theinput unit 501 of the home terminal 500, the registration unit 422obtains the user ID “20132” and the password from the home terminal 500,and judges whether or not the user “Mother” is a valid user based on theuser ID and the password. In the case of judging that the user “Mother”is a valid user, the registration unit 422 searches the user ID “20132”in the user ID column G1 of the user group information 421 a.

Since the user ID “20132” is registered into the user ID column G1 ofthe user group information 421 a, the registration unit 422 specifiesthe group “family” and “kindergarten” registered into the group columnG2 in association with the user ID, and allows the display unit 502 todisplay a screen for inquiring on which group a sender of the messagebelongs to, as shown in FIG. 32(b).

When the user “Mother” selects the group “family” by operating the inputunit 501 of the home terminal 500, the registration unit 422 knows thatthe group “family” is selected, inquires on the member to whom a messageshould be sent, out of the members registered into the user groupinformation 421 a in association with the group “family”, and allows thedisplay unit 502 to display a screen for inquiring about the details ofthe message. Here, the registration unit 422 allows the display unit 502to also display a screen for inquiring about conditions under which amessage should be sent. The conditions here are a destination where amember to whom the message is to be sent, and a scheduled arrival timeat which the member arrives at the destination.

In other words, when predicting where and at what time the memberarrives, the registration unit 422 inquires a member in the selectedgroup of a message to be transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 32(c), the registration unit 422 allows the displayunit 502 to display a target member frame Wn1, a predicted destinationframe Wn2, a time frame Wn3 and a message frame Wn4.

In the user group information 421 a, the followings are registered inassociation with the group “family”: the nickname “Father” and the userID “20131”; the nickname “Mother” and the user ID “20132”; the nickname“Taro” and the user ID “20133”; and the nickname “Hanako” and the userID “20134”. Therefore, when the group “family” is selected, theregistration unit 422 allows the nicknames “Father”, “Mother”, “Taro”,and “Hanako” as well as “A11” to be displayed in the target member frameWn1.

Here, when the user “Mother” desires to send a message to the nickname“Father”, the user “Mother” operates the input unit 501 of the hometerminal 500 and ticks the check box Bx21 displayed on the left of thenickname “Father” among the check boxes Bx21 on the left of each of thenicknames shown within the target member frame Wn1.

The registration unit 422 also allows a display of a selection box Bx22for selecting a category to which a facility such as “superstore”,“restaurant” or “fitness facility” belongs, and an input box Bx23 forinputting a name of the facility instead of its category.

In the case where the user “Mother” desires to send a message to thenickname “Father” while heading for a destination “superstore”, the user“Mother” operates the input unit 501 of the home terminal 500 so thatthe destination “superstore” is displayed in the selection box Bx22. Inthe case where the user “Mother” predicts that the nickname “Father”arrives at the destination “superstore” at the time “15:00-19:30” anddesires to send a message, the user “Mother” operates the input unit 501of the home terminal 500 so as to input the time “15:00-19:30” into thetime frame Wn3. The user “Mother” then operates the input unit 501 toinput, for example, the message “I want you to buy 400 g of beef” thatshe wants to send to the nickname “Father”, into the message frame Wn4.

When the user “Mother” inputs the message or the like and determines thedetails of the input, the registration unit 422 registers the inputteddetails into the registration information 423 a.

FIG. 33 is an information display diagram showing the details includedin the registration information 423 a stored in the registrationinformation storing unit 423.

The registration information 423 a has the following columns: aregistrant H1, a target group H2, a target member H3, a destination H4,a time H5, and a message H6. The target member column H3 has a nicknamecolumn H31 and a user ID column H32, while the destination column H4 hasa name column H41 and a category column H42.

In the registrant column H1, a user ID of the registrant (i.e. user“Mother”) who has registered by operating the home terminal 500. In thetarget group column H2, groups such as “family” and “kindergarten”selected by the registrant are registered. In the nickname column H31 ofthe target member column H3, nicknames of the members selected by theregistrant are registered in association with the group, while in theuser ID column H32, user IDs of the users having such nicknames areregistered. In the name column H41 of the destination column H4, a nameof the destination specified by the registrant for each member as wellas its node number is registered. In the category column H42 of thedestination column H4, a category of the destination specified by theregistrant for each member is registered. A time that is set by theregistrant for each target member is registered into the time column H5,while a message inputted by the registrant is registered into themessage column H6.

For example, in the case where the user “Mother” registers as shown inFIGS. 32A through 32C, the registration unit 422 registers, as theregistration information 423 a, the user ID “20132” of the user “Mother”into the registrant column H1, the group “family” into the target groupcolumn H2, the nickname “Father” and the user ID “20131” into the targetmember column H3, and the destination “superstore” into the categorycolumn H42 of the destination H4. The registration unit 422 furtherregisters the time “15:00-19:30” associated with the nickname “Father”of the target member into the time H5, and the message “I want you tobuy 400 g of beef”, into the message column H6. In the case where theuser ID “20132” of the user “Mother” is already registered into theregistrant column H1, and the group “family” is already registered intothe target group column H2, other information is registered, forexample, into the target member column H3, without performingregistration for the registrant column H1 and the target group columnH2. Plural messages may be registered for the same member according todestination and time.

Note that when the user “Mother” inputs a name of facility into theinput box Bx23 of the predicted destination frame Wn2 on the screenshown in FIG. 32(c), the registration unit 422 refers, for example, tothe data into which a name of facility and its node number arepreviously inputted, and registers the inputted name and node numberinto the destination column H4 of the registration information 423 a.

The following describes the operation performed by the registrationfunction unit 420 of the server 400 according to the present embodiment,with reference to FIG. 34.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing the operation performed by theregistration function unit 420 of the server 400.

Firstly, the registration unit 422 obtains, from the home terminal 500,a user ID and a password of the user who has come to access (Step S200),and judges whether or not the user is a valid user (Step S202).

In the case of judging that the user is a valid user (Y in Step S202),the registration unit 422 allows the display unit 502 to display ascreen (i.e. a group selecting screen) for allowing the user to select agroup as shown in FIG. 32(b) (Step S204). In the case of judging thatthe user is not a valid user (N in Step S204), the registration unit 422repeatedly executes the operation starting from Step S200.

After the execution of Step S204, the registration unit 422 judgeswhether or not a group is selected (Step S206). In the case of judgingthat a group is selected, the registration unit 422 allows the displayunit 502 to display a screen (i.e. a message setting screen) foraccepting members, destination, time and message as shown in FIG. 32(c)(Step S208). In the case of judging that a group is not selected, theregistration unit 422 repeatedly executes the operation starting fromStep S208.

After the execution of Step S208, the registration unit 422 judgeswhether or not destination and time are inputted (Step S210). In thecase of judging that all the information is inputted (Y in Step S210),the registration unit 422 further judges whether another group is to beselected or not by inquiring the user operating the home terminal 500 ofit (Step S212). In the case of judging that not all the information isinputted (N in Step S210), the registration unit 422 repeatedly executesthe operation starting from Step S208. In the case of judging thatanother group is to be selected (Y in Step S212), the registration unit422 executes the operation starting from Step S204.

In the case of judging that another group is not to be selected (N inStep S212), the registration unit 422 registers, into the registrationinformation 423 a, the group selected in Step S206 and the detailsinputted in Step S210 (Step S214).

Having obtained the prediction result data and the user ID from thecar-navi 100B via the server sending/receiving unit 430, the useridentification unit 412 of the search and extraction function unit 410in the server 400 judges whether or not the user ID is registered intothe target member column H3 of the registration information 423 a. Inthe case of judging that the user ID is registered into the targetmember column H3, the user identification unit 412 notifies the categoryspecification unit 413 of the prediction result data and the user ID.

The category specification unit 413 refers to the category information411 a held in the category information holding unit 413, judges whetheror not the destination indicated in the prediction result data belongsto a predetermined category, and specifies the category.

FIG. 35 is an information display diagram showing the details includedin the category information 411 a held in the category informationholding unit 411.

The category information 411 a is previously held for each user, and hasa facility column I1 and a category column I2. A name of facility andits node number are registered into the facility column I1 while acategory to which the facility belongs is registered into the categorycolumn I2.

For example, “home, node number L507”, “company, node number L509”,“kindergarten, node number L508”, “C-coop, node number L271”, “Eco-ecoMart, node number L272” and “restaurant ‘Let's Drop In’, node numberL273” are registered into the facility column I1 of the categoryinformation 411 a. The followings are registered into the categorycolumn I2 of the category information 411 a: “superstore” associatedwith “C-coop”; “superstore” associated with “Eco-eco Mart”; and“restaurant” associated with “restaurant ‘Let's Drop In’”.

That is to say that the category information 411 a indicates that thefacilities “C-coop” and “Eco-eco Mart” belong to the category“superstore” and the facility “restaurant ‘Let's Drop In” belongs to thecategory “restaurant”. In other words, the category information 411 aindicates that the facilities that belong to the category “superstore”are the facilities “C-coop” and “Eco-eco Mart”, and the facility thatbelongs to the category “restaurant” is the facilities “restaurant‘Let's Drop In’” and “Drink It Up”.

Each of the facilities such as “home”, “company” and “kindergarten” is afacility related only to the user, and therefore, it does not belong toany category.

In the case where the prediction result data obtained from the car-navi100B indicates the destination “C-coop, node number L271”, the categoryspecification unit 413 searches for “C-coop, the node number L271” inthe facility column I1 of the category information 411 a. The categoryspecification unit 413 then judges whether or not the category isregistered into the category column I2 in association with the facility“C-coop, node number L271”. As the category “superstore” is registeredinto the category information 411 a in accordance with “C-coop, nodenumber L271”, the category specification unit 413 specifies the category“superstore” as the category of the facility “C-coop” being adestination. The category specification unit 413 then notifies themessage search unit 415 of the specified category.

In the case where the prediction result data obtained from the car-navi100B indicates, for example, the destination “home, node number L507”,the category specification unit 413 does not perform the notification ofcategory since the category of the destination “home, node number L507”is not registered into the category information 411 a.

Having obtained the prediction result data and the user ID from thecar-navi 100B, the message search unit 415 searches, in the registrationinformation 423 a, for a message specified by the prediction result dataand the user ID. In the case where the category is notified by thecategory specification unit 413, the message search unit 415 searchesthe message using the notified category.

For example, in the case where the prediction result data indicates thedestination “C-coop, node number L271” and the scheduled arrival time“19:00”, and the user ID indicates “20131”, the message search unit 415firstly searches for the user ID “20131” in the target member column H3.After having received, from the category specification unit 413, thenotification that the category of the destination (i.e. facility) is“superstore”, the message search unit 415 judges whether or not thecategory “superstore” is registered in association with the user ID“20131” into the category column H42 of the registration information 423a. In the case where the category “superstore” is registered, themessage search unit 415 further judges whether or not “19:00” isincluded in the time registered into the time column H5 in associationwith the user ID “20131” and the category “superstore”.

As shown in FIG. 33, the category “superstore” is registered into thecategory H42 of the registration information 423 a and the time“15:00-19:30” is registered into the time H5, in association with theuser ID “20131”. Therefore, the message search unit 415 judges that thecategory “superstore” is registered into the category column H42 inassociation with the user ID “20131” and the time “19:00” is included inthe time registered in association with the user ID “20131” and thecategory “superstore”.

As a result, the message search unit 415 specifies the message “I wantyou to buy 400 g of beef” registered, in association with the user ID“20131” and the category “superstore”, into the message column H6 of theregistration information 423 a. That is to say that the message searchunit 415 searches for the destination indicated in the prediction resultdata and the message that corresponds to a scheduled arrival time, andspecifies the message.

The message search unit 415 then notifies the transmission data creationunit 414 of the message specified through the search.

Having received the notification, the transmission data creation unit414 creates transmission data for notifying the message via an e-mailfor example, and allows the transmission data to be transmitted from theserver sending/receiving unit 430 to the car-navi 100B.

Having obtained the transmission data via the sending/receiving unit 160of the car-navi 100B, the message display unit 150 of the car-navi 100Bdisplays a message indicated in the transmission data.

FIGS. 36A and 36B are screen display diagrams respectively showing anexample of the screen displayed by the message display unit 150 of thecar-navi 100B.

As shown in FIG. 36A, the message display unit 150 displays a messagewindow Wn11, in which a text “You've got a message from your mother” andthe searched-out message “I want you to buy 400 g of beef” aredisplayed.

In the case where “Father”, who is a member of the group “family” andalso a user operating the car-navi 100B, is on his way home, the server400 transmits, to the car-navi 100B, the transmission data of themessage registered into the registration information 423 a inassociation with the member “Father” and the destination “home”, so thatthe text “You've got a message from your mother” and a message “We arehaving curry for dinner tonight” are displayed in the message windowWn12, as shown in FIG. 36B.

FIG. 36C is a screen display diagram showing an example of the screendisplayed by a message display unit of the cell phone 600.

In the case where “Taro”, who is a user using the cell phone 600 andalso a member of the group “family”, is on his way home, transmissiondata of the message that is registered into the registration information423 a in association with the member “Taro” and the destination “home”is transmitted from the server 400 to the cell phone 600, so that thetext “You've got a message from your mother” and the message “We arehaving curry for dinner tonight” are displayed by the message displayunit of the cell phone 600 as shown in FIG. 36C.

The following describes the operation performed by the search andextraction function unit 410 of the server 400 according to the presentembodiment, with reference to FIG. 37.

FIG. 37 is an operational flowchart showing the operation performed bythe search and extraction function unit 410 of the server 400.

Firstly, having obtained prediction result data and a user ID from thecar-navi 100B (Step S220), the user identification unit 412 judgeswhether or not the user ID is registered into the target member columnH3 of the registration information 423 a (Step S222).

In the case of judging that the user ID is registered (Y in Step S222),the user identification unit 412 notifies the category specificationunit 413 of the prediction result data and the user ID, while thecategory specification unit 413 refers to the category information 411 a(Step S224) and judges whether or not the destination indicated in theprediction result data belongs to a predetermined category (Step S226).

As a result, in the case of judging that the destination belongs to thepredetermined category (Y in Step S226), the category specification unit413 specifies the category and notifies the message search unit 415 ofthe category (Step S228).

Next, the message search unit 415 refers to the registration information423 a (Step S230), and judges whether or not the message associated withthe following is registered into the registration information 423 a: theuser ID from the car-navi 100B; the destination indicated in theprediction result data; a category in the case where the category isspecified; and the scheduled arrival time indicated in the predictionresult data (Step S232).

In the case where the message is registered into the registrationinformation 423 a (Y in Step S232), the message search unit 415 notifiesthe transmission data creation unit 414 of the message (Step S234),while the transmission data creation unit 414 creates transmission dataindicating the message and transmits the transmission data to thecar-navi 100B (Step S236).

Under such execution support system 3, in the case where it is predictedthat the car-navi 100B or the cell phone 600 is heading for apredetermined destination, the server 400 selects a message thatcorresponds to the destination from among the pre-registered messages,and allows the car-navi 100B or the cell phone 600 to execute control,that is, a display of the message. This abbreviates the cumbersome tasksimposed on the user, such as an inquiry like “I'm on the way to thesuperstore. Do you want me to get anything?”, and the user can receive amessage in accordance with the user's behavior.

Note that the server 400 of the present embodiment may search for afacility that belongs to the same category as that of the destination inthe vicinity of present position of the car-navi 100B, and transmit, tothe car-navi 100B, the transmission data which includes a messagenotifying name and place of the facility.

In this case, the prediction function unit 110B of the car-navi 100Btransmits, to the server 400, the prediction result data including thepresent position detected by the position detection unit 101. The server400 judges whether or not the destination included in the predictionresult data belongs to a predetermined category. In the case of judgingthat the destination belongs, for example, to the category “superstore”,the server 400 searches for a “superstore” located in the vicinity ofthe present position included in the prediction result data, through itsown data base and the Internet. The server 400 may search for a“superstore” which is near the present position and matches theconditions such as “sales at bargain prices” and “sales during limitedhours”. In the case where the facility that matches with the conditionsas a result of the search, the server 400 transmits, to the car-navi100B, the message “I want you to buy 400 g of beef” included in theregistration information 423 a together with the transmission data thatincludes a message “sales during limited hours” in the superstore“Eco-eco Mart” at the intersection A nearby”.

Thus, the message is displayed by the message display unit 150 of thecar-navi 100B so that the user operating the car-navi 100B is notbothered to go as far as the destination and can shop at the superstorelocated nearby, and can also select the superstore that matches best theconditions. This improves usability for the user.

The server 400 according to the present embodiment may further allow theoperation to be executed in accordance with the response from thecar-navi 100B or the cell phone 600.

For example, the server 400 transmits the transmission data thatincludes the message “I want you to buy 400 g of beef”, to the car-navi100B and the cell phone 600. When the user operating the car-navi 100B,who has read the message “I want you to buy 400 g of beef” included inthe transmission data, actually gets 400 g of beef and operates thecar-navi 100B for sending back a message informing of the purchase tothe server 400. In the case where the server 400 has not yet obtained areply message informing of the purchase from the cell phone 600, at thetime of receiving the message replied from the car-navi 100B, the server400 transmits, to the cell phone 600 a, a message indicating that “thepurchaser of 400 g of beef is the user (i.e. Father) operating thecar-navi 100B”.

Thus, the user of the cell phone 600 knows that there is no need to buy400 g of beef as is written in the message, since he/she has alreadybought it. This prevents the user operating the car-navi 100B and theuser using the cell phone 600 from buying 400 g of beef. Thus, usabilityis further enhanced.

The registration function unit 420 of the server 400 according to thepresent embodiment may include a user information holding unit thatpreviously holds user information, while the registration unit 422 ofthe server 400 may allow the display unit 502 of the home terminal 500to display a screen for inquiring on group or category. In the userinformation, user IDs of predetermined target members, groups of themembers, and categories of destination are registered as initialsettings, and also, user IDs of the target members that are registeredin the past are registered as a history. In the case where theregistration unit 422 allows the display unit 502 of the home terminal500 to display a group selecting screen, the groups registered asinitial settings into the user information and the groups that arefrequently registered as a history in recent days are displayed, forinstance, on the top of the screen or larger, so that they are easilyselected by the home terminal 500. As shown in FIG. 32(c), in the casewhere the registration unit 422 allows the display unit 502 to displaythe target member frame Wn1 and the predicted destination frame Wn2, thetarget members and categories registered as initial settings into theuser information, or the target members and categories which arefrequently registered as a history in recent days are displayed in thestate where the check box Bx21 is ticked or in the state where acategory is inputted into the selection box Bx22, so that they areeasily selected by the home terminal 500.

Thus, the server 400 has a so-called learning function, as in the secondembodiment, by the fact that the registration unit 422 displays a screenfor inquiring on group or category based on the user information, sothat the usability for the user operating the home terminal 500 isimproved.

Note that the present embodiment shows the example of the case where theuser “Mother” sends a message toward a group member “Father”, however,the user “Mother” may send a message to herself. That is to say that theuser “Mother” selects herself as the member to whom a message is sent,and previously registers the message into the registration information423 a.

Thus, for example, in the case where a name of the video that the user“Mother” desires to rent is registered into the registration information423 a as a message, the name of the video is displayed as a message bythe car-navi 100B as the user “Mother” approaches to the rental shopwhile driving the car in which the car-navi 100B is set. The user“Mother” therefore can immediately be informed of the name even in thecase she forgets it.

Note that through the first to third embodiments, the respectivecar-navi 100, 110A, 110B and the cell phone 600 have the components suchas the position detection unit 101 and the map information holding unit103, however, they may have at least the position detection unit 101, oranother device other than the above mobile terminals may have thecomponents other than the position detection unit 101. For example,another device except for the car-navi 100B may include the messagedisplay unit 150 according to the third embodiment, and another deviceexcept for the car-navi 100A may include the operation unit 131according to the second embodiment. Another server may include the mapinformation holding unit 103 and the node judgment unit 102 or the likeso that a mobile terminal such as the car-navi 110 equipped with theposition detection unit 101 and the server can communicate with eachother via the Internet 900.

In this way, by placing the position detection unit 101 into a mobileterminal such as the car-navi 110 and placing other components exceptfor the position detection unit 101 into another device different fromthe mobile terminal mentioned above reduction in size and weight ofmobile terminal can be achieved.

Although only some exemplary embodiments of this invention have beendescribed in detail above, those skilled in the art will readilyappreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplaryembodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings andadvantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications areintended to be included within the scope of this invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The execution support system according to the present invention iseffective in eliminating cumbersome operations imposed on a user andsupporting a device to execute control in accordance with the user'sbehavior. Such system is useful for supporting a terminal device that isplaced in a hospital or a store, and a cell phone, execute control.

1-29. (canceled)
 30. An execution support system for supporting apredetermined device execute a control operation, said systemcomprising: a mobile terminal that predicts a destination to which saidterminal is headed, and outputs prediction result data indicating aresult of the prediction; a control operation specification unitoperable (i) to hold registration information in which a category towhich a facility belongs, and a control operation of the device areregistered, the control operation corresponding to the category, (ii) tojudge whether or not a destination facility indicated in the predictionresult data belongs to a predetermined category, and (iii) to specify acontrol operation corresponding to the predetermined category amongcontrol operations registered in the registration information, in thecase where it is judged that the destination facility belongs to thepredetermined category; and an execution unit operable to cause thedevice to execute the control operation specified by said controloperation specification unit.
 31. The execution support system accordingto claim 30, wherein the control operation registered in theregistration information is a transmission of a message or a display ofa message.
 32. The execution support system according to claim 30,wherein the category registered in the registration information isrestaurant.
 33. The execution support system according to claim 30,wherein a period of time related to each control operation is registeredin the registration information, and said control operationspecification unit is further operable to specify a control operationassociated with a period of time that includes a time indicated in theprediction result data.
 34. The execution support system according toclaim 33, wherein identification information for identifying a devicethat executes a control operation is registered in the registrationinformation in association with each control operation, said controloperation specification unit is operable to specify, among the controloperations registered in the registration information, a controloperation indicated in the prediction result data and identificationinformation of a device that executes the control operation, and saidexecution unit is operable to cause the device to execute the controloperation specified by the control operation specification unit, thedevice being indicated in the identification information specified bysaid control operation specification unit.
 35. The execution supportsystem according to claim 34, wherein, in the registration information,user identification information for identifying each user is registeredin association with each control operation, said mobile terminal outputsuser identification of a user operating said terminal, and said controloperation specification unit is operable to specify, among the controloperations registered in the registration information, a controloperation that is further indicated in the user identificationinformation outputted by said mobile terminal.
 36. The execution supportsystem according to claim 35, further comprising an update unit operableto update the registration information held by said control operationspecification unit.
 37. The execution support system according to claim36, wherein said control operation specification unit is operable tonotify said mobile terminal of candidates for a control operation of thedevice, the candidates being specified according to the predictionresult data, and to specify a control operation selected by said mobileterminal among the candidates.
 38. The execution support systemaccording to claim 37, wherein said control operation specification unitis operable to store, as a history, a result of the selection made bysaid mobile terminal, and to notify said mobile terminal of afrequently-selected control operation in priority to other controloperations.
 39. The execution support system according to claim 38,wherein the control operation is starting up the device.
 40. Theexecution support system according to claim 38, wherein the controloperation is a display of a message.
 41. The execution support systemaccording to claim 40, wherein said mobile terminal derives a scheduledarrival time to arrive at a predicted destination and includes thescheduled arrival time in the prediction result data, and said executionunit is operable to cause the device to display a message that includesthe scheduled arrival time.
 42. The execution support system accordingto claim 38, wherein the control operation is a registration ofinformation indicating details of a reservation made with regard to thedestination.
 43. The execution support system according to claim 42,wherein said execution unit is operable to create a script for causingthe device to execute a control operation, and to transmit the script tothe device.
 44. The execution support system according to claim 43, saidexecution unit is operable to previously hold a format of the script anda parameter, and to create a script that indicates a control operation,by inputting the parameter into the format.
 45. The execution supportsystem according to claim 44, wherein said execution unit is operable tocause said mobile terminal to serve as the device, and to cause themobile terminal to execute the control operation specified by saidcontrol operation specification unit.
 46. The execution support systemaccording to claim 45, wherein said mobile terminal is a terminal in acar navigation system, or a cell phone.
 47. The execution support systemaccording to claim 46, wherein said mobile terminal includes saidcontrol operation specification unit and said execution unit, and saidexecution unit is operable to cause the device to execute the controloperation, via an electrical communication line.
 48. The executionsupport system according to claim 46, wherein a server includes saidcontrol operation specification unit and said execution unit, saidmobile terminal transmits the prediction result data to the server viaan electrical communication line, and said execution unit in the serveris operable to cause the device to execute the control operation, viathe electrical communication line.
 49. The execution support systemaccording to claim 46, wherein a server includes said control operationspecification unit and said execution unit, said mobile terminaltransmits the prediction result data to the server via the electricalcommunication line, and said execution unit in the server is operable tocause said mobile terminal to execute the control operation, via theelectrical communication line.
 50. A server included in an executionsupport system for supporting a predetermined device execute a controloperation, said server comprising: an obtainment unit operable to obtainprediction result data indicating a result of prediction for adestination to which a mobile terminal is headed; a control operationspecification unit operable to specify a control operation of thedevice, the control operation being specified according to theprediction result data; and an execution unit operable to cause themobile terminal to serve as the device, and to cause the mobile terminalto execute the control operation specified by said control operationspecification unit.
 51. An execution support method for supporting apredetermined device execute a control operation, said methodcomprising: a prediction step of predicting a destination to which amobile terminal is headed, and outputting prediction result dataindicating a result of the prediction, said prediction step beingperformed by the mobile terminal; a control operation specification stepof specifying a control operation of the device, the control operationbeing specified according to the outputted prediction result data; andan execution step of causing the device to execute the control operationspecified in said control operation specification step.
 52. Theexecution support method according to claim 51, wherein said controloperation specification step includes: a candidate notification sub-stepof notifying the mobile terminal of candidates for a control operationof the device, the candidates being specified according to theprediction result data; and a candidate selection sub-step of selectingone from among the notified candidates for the control operation, saidcandidate selection sub-step being performed by the mobile terminal;wherein the control operation selected in said candidate selectionsub-step is specified.
 53. An execution support method for supporting apredetermined device execute a control operation, said methodcomprising: a prediction step of predicting a destination to which amobile terminal is headed, and outputting prediction result dataindicating a result of the prediction, said prediction step beingperformed by the mobile terminal; a control operation specification stepof (i) holding registration information in which a category to which afacility belongs and a control operation of the device are registered,the control operation corresponding to the category, (ii) judgingwhether or not a destination facility indicated in the prediction resultdata belongs to a predetermined category, and (iii) specifying a controloperation corresponding to the predetermined category, among controloperations registered in the registration information, in the case whereit is judged that the destination facility belongs to the predeterminedcategory; and an execution step of causing the device to execute thecontrol operation specified in said control operation specificationstep.
 54. An execution support method used by a server included in anexecution support system for supporting a predetermined device execute acontrol operation, said method comprising: an obtainment step ofobtaining prediction result data indicating a result of prediction for adestination to which a mobile terminal is headed; a control operationspecification step of specifying a control operation of the device, thecontrol operation being specified according to the prediction resultdata; and an execution step of causing the mobile terminal to serve asthe device, and causing the mobile terminal to execute the controloperation specified in said control operation specification step.
 55. Aprogram for a mobile terminal that supports a predetermined deviceexecute a control operation, said program causing a computer to execute:a prediction step of predicting a destination to which the mobileterminal is headed, and outputting prediction result data indicating aresult of the prediction, said prediction step being performed by themobile terminal; a control operation specification step of specifying acontrol operation of the device, the control operation being specifiedaccording to the outputted prediction result data; and an execution stepof causing the device to execute the control operation specified in saidcontrol operation specification step.
 56. A program for supporting apredetermined device execute a control operation, said program causing acomputer to execute: a prediction step of predicting a destination towhich a mobile terminal is headed, and outputting prediction result dataindicating a result of the prediction, said prediction step beingperformed by the mobile terminal; a control operation specification stepof (i) holding registration information in which a category to which afacility belongs, and a control operation of the device are registered,the control operation corresponding to the category, (ii) judgingwhether or not a destination facility indicated in the prediction resultdata belongs to a predetermined category, and (iii) specifying a controloperation corresponding to the predetermined category, among controloperations registered in the registration information, in the case whereit is judged that the destination facility belongs to the predeterminedcategory; and an execution step of causing the device to execute thecontrol operation specified in said control operation specificationstep.